{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "is_view": false, "human_description_en": "where chamber = \"House\", state = \"TX\" and year = 2019 sorted by date descending", "rows": [["https://hurd.house.gov/media-center/hurd-hill/hurd-hill-protecting-free-trade-mexico-and-canada", "Hurd on the Hill: Protecting Free Trade with Mexico and Canada", "2019-12-31", "2019", "2019-12", "Republican", "House", "TX", "Will Hurd", "H001073", "hurd.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "The U.S. House has done its job: The United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement has been passed and is on its way to the U.S. Senate. Those of us who live and work in South and West Texas know well that the United States and Mexico share a very special economic relationship. We count on cross-border commerce to serve as an economic engine across local communities. Our neighbors export goods and services or rely on imports to perfect and market to American consumers.And American companies are building in Mexico and creating jobs on both sides of the border. This system is not without its challenges  but it works.\nUSMCA gets a lot right. It improves the enforcement mechanism for all aspects of the agreement so that American workers and American innovation can be protected. This may seem like legal talk, but when American workers are undercut by foreign actors, we all know it's the Americans who end up out of work.\nFree trade with Mexico and Canada impacts just about every aspect of our lives, from the food on our tables and the clothes on our backs to the fuel in our cars. The United States, Mexico and Canada build things together, and this landmark trade deal makes sure that we continue our important trilateral relationship built from NAFTA into the 21st Century and beyond.\nWe also live in a world where our nation's military and economic dominance is no longer guaranteed, and the USMCA is vital for us to maintain our quality of life as we know it. This trade agreement will allow continued economic prosperity and North American competitiveness as China tries to replace the United States as the most important economy in the world. The USMCA also helps us continue to lead the way in advanced technology by modernizing NAFTA to account for technological change over the last quarter century.\nTheagreement also includes recapitalization of the North American Development Bank, or NADBank, which helps fund local infrastructure projects in border communities. We on the border know the specific efforts it takes to keep region thriving. Our land and its perseveration is its own currency and I am pleased NADBank is expressly a priority in the agreement.\nWhile this month's passage is a huge win for American workers, we must make sure that we are not at this same position 25 years from now. Let's learn from the mistakes of NAFTA and address emerging problems in real-time. The technological change in the next quarter century will make the changes over the last quarter century insignificant, and we need our friends in Mexico and Canada in order to be prepared for this global disruption.\nI am pleased to highlight these key statistics. Among other benefits, the USMCA will provide:\n Estimated investments of over $68 billion in new economic activity;\n 176,000 new jobs in America;\n Estimated investment of $34 billion in new auto plants; and,\n 76,000 new American automotive sector jobs.\nThis measure took entirely too long to come up for a vote. We cannot allow major, bipartisan measures like this to get caught up in political games. I'm glad it's done and I am proud USMCA will deliver for Texas. Now it's time for the Senate to deliver the measure to the President's desk.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://williams.house.gov/media-center/newsletters/come-and-read-it-report-year-in-review", "Come and Read It Report: Year in Review", "2019-12-31", "2019", "2019-12", "Republican", "House", "TX", "Roger Williams", "W000816", "williams.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Dear Texans, As this year comes to an end and we enter into the new decade, I want to share with you some of our milestones from 2019. I was proud to participate in 112 events in all 13 counties of the 25th District, including public town halls, coffees and round-tables. I was also grateful for the opportunity to tour some of our small businesses and manufacturing headquarters, meet with local law enforcement and emergency first responders, host recognition events for our veterans, and honor our service members at Fort Hood and across central Texas. It was an honor to welcome President Trump and Vice President Pence to the 25th District, where we opened Louis Vuitton's newest manufacturing plant and stood alongside our nation's finest stationed at Fort Hood. We had a busy year, and I look forward to hitting the ground running when we return to Washington in just a few days. I'm proud to be your voice in Congress.\nNeed help? In 2019, we assisted 462 members of our community with casework, including help with claims at the Department of Veterans Affairs, obtaining Social Security benefits, and expediting or reporting a lost passport. If you need assistance, please call my offices in Cleburne or Austin so we can determine how best to serve you.\nVisiting Washington, D.C.? This year, we led 1,148 tours through the U.S. Capitol for groups of all sizes. Whether you are on a family vacation or a short visit to Washington, D.C., my office can help facilitate tours of the Capitol building, the White House, or the Federal Bureau of Engraving and Printing. Please clickhereto request a tour or for more information. Commemorating a milestone? We flew 65 American flags over the U.S. Capitol this year to commemorate a wide array of important milestones in our community. If you have an upcoming event, please clickhereto fill out the flag order form or for more information. Have a concern? You reached out and we responded: nearly 76,000 times. Whether you have a concern regarding an upcoming vote or an opinion about policy, I encourage you to call or write to my office. As your voice in Congress, it is my privilege to hear from you and ensure the 25th District is well-represented. Please clickhereto leave a message for me or my staff and we will respond as soon as we are able.\nLooking ahead Over the last year, our economy has hit record-highs again and again whilewages for workers continue to riseand unemployment steadilyremains at a 50-year low. We've seen tremendous economic success under President Trump's leadership, and I look forward to continuing our partnership as we fight for pro-growth, pro-business, and pro-America policies that benefit 25th District families and workers. It is an honor and a privilege to serve you. Happy New Year! In God we trust,\nRoger Williams\nMember of Congress", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.cornyn.senate.gov/content/news/cornyn-bill-reauthorize-debbie-smith-act-fight-rape-kit-backlog-signed-law", "Cornyn Bill to Reauthorize Debbie Smith Act, Fight Rape Kit Backlog Signed Into Law", "2019-12-31", "2019", "2019-12", "Republican", "House", "TX", "John Cornyn", "C001056", "www.cornyn.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Cornyn Shepherded Bill Through Senate to President's Desk\n \nAUSTIN- U.S. Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) released the following statement after President Trump signed the Debbie Smith Act of 2019 into law yesterday:\nThis landmark legislation has provided more than a decade of support for survivors, serving as a critical tool in the fight to end backlogs of untested kits in cities across America, said Sen. Cornyn. Since 2011, the Debbie Smith Act has helped reduce the backlog of unsubmitted rape kits in Texas by approximately 90 percent. The benefits of continuing the programs created under the Debbie Smith Act cannot be overstated, and I appreciate all of the advocates who have fought with us at every step of the way.\nThe Debbie Smith Crime Victims Protection Act reauthorizes the Debbie Smith Act to continue the testing of DNA evidence, including rape kits, from unsolved crimes nationwide, DNA training and education for law enforcement, correctional personnel, and court officers, and the Sexual Assault Forensic Exam Program, which supports forensic nurse training throughout the country. Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Joni Ernst (R-IA), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Martha McSally (R-AZ), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Thom Tillis (R-NC), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Richard Burr (R-NC), Mike Crapo (R-ID), Tim Scott (R-SC), and Josh Hawley (R-MO) were original cosponsors.  \nBackground on the Debbie Smith Act:\nThe Debbie Smith Act was originally signed into law in 2004 to provide local and state crime laboratories resources to end the backlog of untested DNA evidence from unsolved crimes, analyze DNA samples, and increase the capacity to process DNA in order to guard against future backlogs. Since it became law, more than 641,000 DNA cases have been processed. In addition to crime scene evidence, Debbie Smith funds are also utilized to process offender DNA samples to ensure evidence from unsolved crimes can be matched against a database of known offenders, similar to the criminal fingerprint databases.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://burgess.house.gov/blog/?postid=402261", "Burgess Recaps Year with Report", "2019-12-30", "2019", "2019-12", "Republican", "House", "TX", "Michael Burgess", "B001248", "burgess.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Washington, D.C.  Congressman Michael C. Burgess, M.D. (R-TX), member of the House Rules Committee and Republican Leader of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health released his annual year-end report today.\r\nThis report is just one way that I am able to remain accountable to my constituents, Burgess said. It provides the 26th District of Texas a record of all that has happened in the last year. I am looking forward to another year serving the district.\r\nThis report can be found on his website or by clicking here.\r\nBurgess works hard to ensure that he is accessible to the constituents of the 26th District. By releasing an annual report, constituents are provided a full breakdown of what has been accomplished by Burgess and his staff. The report is broken down into three parts: constituent services, legislative work, and media appearances.\r\n ###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://arrington.house.gov/2019/12/icymi-arrington-trade-wins-signal-brighter-future-for-west-texas/", "ICYMI: Arrington: Trade Wins Signal Brighter Future for West Texas", "2019-12-30", "2019", "2019-12", "Republican", "House", "TX", "Jodey Arrington", "A000375", "arrington.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "ICYMI: Arrington: Trade Wins Signal Brighter Future for West Texas \n\t\t\t\t\tDecember 30, 2019\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tLUBBOCK Writing in theLubbock Avalanche-Journalthis week, Congressman Jodey Arrington (TX-19) hailed therecent passage of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) in the U.S. House of Representativesand theTrump Administration's Phase One trade deal with Chinaas a turning point for American trade policy that will benefit agriculture and energy economies in West Texas and across the country:\nAfter years of watching our jobs shipped overseas and agriculture exports plummet, our nation has made a much-needed course correction  one that will bring a brighter future for our farmers and ranchers, energy producers, and workers in West Texas who, perhaps more than anyone, understand the costs and consequences of trade imbalances that affect their livelihood,wrote Arrington.\nTogether, passage of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) in Congress and the prospects of a Phase One trade deal with China are generating even more optimism for the people and businesses that turn the gears on the largest and most diverse economic engine in the world\nIn District 19 alone, Canada and Mexico account for 40 percent of our total exports, and nearly half of all trade-related jobs are connected to our North American neighbors\nUnder the Phase One' deal announced earlier this month, China has committed to purchasing at least $200 billion worth of American exports, doubling its imports of U.S. goods over the next two years\nThese recent successes are only the beginning of a turning point for American trade and, by extension, for agriculture and energy economies like ours in West Texas and across the country\n\nREAD CONGRESSMAN ARRINGTON'SFULL COLUMN IN THELUBBOCK AVALANCHE-JOURNAL:\n\nTrade wins signal brighter future for West Texas\nBy Jodey C. Arrington\nLubbock Avalanche-Journal\nDecember 29, 2019\n\nMajor negotiation breakthroughs with our North American trade partners as well as China sent the stock market to record highs last week but, more importantly, sent a message from the U.S. to our international partners and adversaries alike: America First' is not just a campaign slogan, it's the new reality.\nInstead of being beholden to the whims and wishes of other global economic superpowers, America is now negotiating from a position of strength, enabling us to control our own economic destiny in the 21st Century.\nAfter years of watching our jobs shipped overseas and agriculture exports plummet, our nation has made a much-needed course correction  one that will bring a brighter future for our farmers and ranchers, energy producers, and workers in West Texas who, perhaps more than anyone, understand the costs and consequences of trade imbalances that affect their livelihood.\nThe future of economic prosperity for America depends on freer markets at home and greater access to consumers abroad.\nTogether, passage of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) in Congress and the prospects of a Phase One trade deal with China are generating even more optimism for the people and businesses that turn the gears on the largest and most diverse economic engine in the world.\nUSMCA will add nearly $70 billion to the U.S. economy, create more than 170,000 new jobs, and grow U.S. agriculture exports by an additional $2.2 billion annually.\nIn District 19 alone, Canada and Mexico account for 40 percent of our total exports, and nearly half of all trade-related jobs are connected to our North American neighbors.\nUnder the Phase One deal announced earlier this month, China has committed to purchasing at least $200 billion worth of American exports, doubling its imports of U.S. goods over the next two years.\nEven more important than the substantial increase in Chinese purchases of U.S. agriculture products, the deal also includes structural reforms like ending currency manipulation and protecting intellectual property, allowing our producers and manufacturers to compete and win on a level playing field.\nThese recent successes are only the beginning of a turning point for American trade and, by extension, for agriculture and energy economies like ours in West Texas and across the country.\nPresident Trump and his chief trade negotiator, Ambassador Robert Lighthizer, have been applying maximum pressure  including using tariffs as a tool  to force other nations into better and fairer deals for the U.S.\nMake no mistake: these painful but necessary negotiating tactics caused China to drop from the second-largest market for U.S. agriculture products to the fifth-largest in just the past two years, with $10 billion in lost exports for U.S. farmers.\nThat's why, ultimately, we must seek to offset the Chinese export market by accessing new markets and reaching new customers in the EU, UK, and Indo-Pacific region. This means building upon the recent successes in achieving better trade parity for the United States in North America and other global economic powers like Japan  which recently agreed to reduce or eliminate tariffs on more than $7 billion of U.S. agriculture exports.\nUSMCA is supported on both sides of the aisle and represents not only more economic activity with our neighbors to the north and south, but also a model framework for enhancing other trade agreements across the globe.\nBuilding on the historic tax cuts and regulatory relief, freer and fairer trade for the U.S. means greater prosperity for the next generation of agriculture and energy producers.\nThat's why it was important for West Texas to have a seat on Ways and Means  the Committee that sets U.S. trade policy  to ensure a level playing field for our farmers and new markets for our food, fuel, and fiber.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://arrington.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=30", "ICYMI: Arrington: Trade Wins Signal Brighter Future for West Texas", "2019-12-30", "2019", "2019-12", "Republican", "House", "TX", "Jodey C. Arrington", "A000375", "arrington.house.gov", "arrington", "https://arrington.house.gov/news/documentquery.aspx?DocumentTypeID=27", "scraper", "Writing in the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal this week, Congressman Jodey Arrington (TX-19) hailed the recent passage of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) in the U.S. House of Representatives and the Trump Administration\u2019s Phase One trade deal with China as a turning point for American trade policy that will benefit agriculture and energy economies in West Texas and across the country: \u201cAfter years of watching our jobs shipped overseas and agriculture exports plummet, our nation has made a much-needed course correction \u2013 one that will bring a brighter future for our farmers and ranchers, energy producers, and workers in West Texas who, perhaps more than anyone, understand the costs and consequences of trade imbalances that affect their livelihood,\u201d wrote Arrington. \u201c\u2026Together, passage of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) in Congress and the prospects of a \u201cPhase One\u201d trade deal with China are generating even more optimism for the people and businesses that turn the gears on the largest and most diverse economic engine in the world\u2026\u201d \u201c\u2026In District 19 alone, Canada and Mexico account for 40 percent of our total exports, and nearly half of all trade-related jobs are connected to our North American neighbors\u2026\u201d \u201c\u2026Under the \u2018Phase One\u2019 deal announced earlier this month, China has committed to purchasing at least $200 billion worth of American exports, doubling its imports of U.S. goods over the next two years\u2026\u201d \u201c...These recent successes are only the beginning of a turning point for American trade and, by extension, for agriculture and energy economies like ours in West Texas and across the country\u2026\u201d READ CONGRESSMAN ARRINGTON\u2019S FULL COLUMN IN THE LUBBOCK AVALANCHE-JOURNAL: Trade wins signal brighter future for West Texas By Jodey C. Arrington Lubbock Avalanche-Journal December 29, 2019 Major negotiation breakthroughs with our North American trade partners as well as China sent the stock market to record highs last week but, more importantly, sent a message from the U.S. to our international partners and adversaries alike: \u2018America First\u2019 is not just a campaign slogan, it\u2019s the new reality. Instead of being beholden to the whims and wishes of other global economic superpowers, America is now negotiating from a position of strength, enabling us to control our own economic destiny in the 21st Century. After years of watching our jobs shipped overseas and agriculture exports plummet, our nation has made a much-needed course correction \u2013 one that will bring a brighter future for our farmers and ranchers, energy producers, and workers in West Texas who, perhaps more than anyone, understand the costs and consequences of trade imbalances that affect their livelihood. The future of economic prosperity for America depends on freer markets at home and greater access to consumers abroad. Together, passage of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) in Congress and the prospects of a \u201cPhase One\u201d trade deal with China are generating even more optimism for the people and businesses that turn the gears on the largest and most diverse economic engine in the world. USMCA will add nearly $70 billion to the U.S. economy, create more than 170,000 new jobs, and grow U.S. agriculture exports by an additional $2.2 billion annually. In District 19 alone, Canada and Mexico account for 40 percent of our total exports, and nearly half of all trade-related jobs are connected to our North American neighbors. Under the \u201cPhase One\u201d deal announced earlier this month, China has committed to purchasing at least $200 billion worth of American exports, doubling its imports of U.S. goods over the next two years. Even more important than the substantial increase in Chinese purchases of U.S. agriculture products, the deal also includes structural reforms like ending currency manipulation and protecting intellectual property, allowing our producers and manufacturers to compete and win on a level playing field. These recent successes are only the beginning of a turning point for American trade and, by extension, for agriculture and energy economies like ours in West Texas and across the country. President Trump and his chief trade negotiator, Ambassador Robert Lighthizer, have been applying maximum pressure \u2013 including using tariffs as a tool \u2013 to force other nations into better and fairer deals for the U.S. Make no mistake: these painful but necessary negotiating tactics caused China to drop from the second-largest market for U.S. agriculture products to the fifth-largest in just the past two years, with $10 billion in lost exports for U.S. farmers. That\u2019s why, ultimately, we must seek to offset the Chinese export market by accessing new markets and reaching new customers in the EU, UK, and Indo-Pacific region. This means building upon the recent successes in achieving better trade parity for the United States in North America and other global economic powers like Japan \u2013 which recently agreed to reduce or eliminate tariffs on more than $7 billion of U.S. agriculture exports. USMCA is supported on both sides of the aisle and represents not only more economic activity with our neighbors to the north and south, but also a model framework for enhancing other trade agreements across the globe. Building on the historic tax cuts and regulatory relief, freer and fairer trade for the U.S. means greater prosperity for the next generation of agriculture and energy producers. That\u2019s why it was important for West Texas to have a seat on Ways and Means \u2013 the Committee that sets U.S. trade policy \u2013 to ensure a level playing field for our farmers and new markets for our food, fuel, and fiber.", 1, "2026-04-07T12:09:11Z", "2026-06-27T23:45:33Z"], ["https://kaygranger.house.gov/media/press-releases/granger-offers-support-west-freeway-church-christ-following-tragedy", "Granger Offers Support for West Freeway Church of Christ Following Tragedy", "2019-12-30", "2019", "2019-12", "Republican", "House", "TX", "Kay Granger", "G000377", "kaygranger.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "FORT WORTH, TX  Congresswoman Kay Granger (R-TX), Ranking Member of the House Appropriations Committee,made the following statement in response to yesterday's shooting in her home district at the West Freeway Church of Christ in White Settlement.  \n\t  \n\tToday each of those touched by the tragedy that unfolded at the West Freeway Church of Christ awoke to a terrible reality. As we continue to hold the families of the victims and members of the congregation in our prayers, we must all search for ways we can participate in making our nation, our communities and our gathering places safe again. We also owe our first responders our love and appreciation as they risk their own lives day after day for all of us.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://doggett.house.gov/media-center/in-the-news/cnn-rep-doggett-discusses-impeachment-trial-senate", "CNN: Rep. Doggett discusses impeachment trial in the Senate", "2019-12-28", "2019", "2019-12", "Democrat", "House", "TX", "Lloyd Doggett", "D000399", "doggett.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "300 East 8th St, 7th Floor", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://www.cruz.senate.gov?p=press_release&id=4843", "Sen. Cruz: 'It's Been a Fantastic Year Fighting for 28 Million Texans'", "2019-12-26", "2019", "2019-12", "Republican", "House", "TX", "Ted Cruz", "C001098", "www.cruz.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "HOUSTON, Texas  From fighting to confirm constitutionalist judges and holding Big Tech accountable, to ensuring Texas remains a pillar of America's defense and reaffirming Texas as America's leader in space exploration, to strengthening America's leadership on the world stage, Sen. Cruz has fought each day for the men and women of the Lone Star State.\nIt is a great honor to represent 28 million Texans and to fight for the constitutional rights of all Americans in the U.S. Senate, said Sen. Cruz. As we reflect on 2019, we are grateful for the booming economy, the freedoms we have as Americans, and the opportunities that another year brings. I remain committed to fighting for Texans in 2020 and look forward to the new year.\nSen. Cruz's 2019 Highlights\nFighting for Constitutionalist Judges\n \nConfirmed 105 judges, including 12 judges for Texas.\n \nHolding Big Tech Accountable\n \nHeld a Constitution Subcommittee hearing holding Facebook and Twitter accountable for their censorship policies.\nHeld a Constitution Subcommittee hearing holding Google accountable for its anti-conservative bias and cooperation with the communist Chinese government.\nWrote a letter to Facebook demanding that it stop censoring pro-life advocacy group Live Action's posts that were rated false' in a supposedly neutral fact-check' conducted by two prominent pro-abortion activists. Facebook responded by dropping the restrictions.\n \nProtecting Religious Liberty\n \nIntroduced the Preserve Charities and Houses of Worship Act, to repeal a mandate requiring charities, churches, and traditionally tax-exempt organizations to pay federal taxes on employee fringe benefits. This provision was included in legislation signed into law by President Trump.\nWrote a letter to Yale denouncing Yale Law School's decision prohibiting students who work for organizations that advocate for traditional Christian values from receiving financial assistance that is available to students who work for many other types of organizations.\n \nDefending the Second Amendment\n \nIntroduced the Protecting Communities and Preserving the Second Amendment Act of 2019, also known as Grassley-Cruz, a bill to preserve law-abiding citizens' Second Amendment rights while putting in place requirements to ensure relevant agencies and institutions accurately submit records to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) in order to prevent criminals from obtaining firearms.\n \nMaking Healthcare and Retirement Affordable\n \nIntroduced the Retirement Freedom Act, which empowers senior citizens and create more options and opportunities for healthcare by allowing senior citizens the choice to opt-out of Medicare Part A and utilize other healthcare options without being forced to lose their Social Security benefits. Sen. Cruz included the Retirement Freedom Act in President Trump's October 2019 Executive Order on Medicare.\nIntroduced the Personalized Care Act, legislation to make Americans' healthcare more portable, accessible, and tailored to meet their unique needs by dramatically expanding Health Savings Accounts  a pre-tax savings tool millions of American use to cover the costs of their healthcare. \n \nStrengthening K-12 Education and Workforce Development\n \nIntroduced the Education Freedom Scholarships Act, which would expand elementary, secondary, and vocational education opportunities for students by providing a federal tax credit to encourage individuals and businesses to donate to non-profit scholarship funds.\n \nSecuring the Border\n \nWrote multiple letters to ensure the federal government reimbursed Texas border communities providing care for illegal immigrants.\nIntroduced the EL CHAPO Act, which would reserve any amounts forfeited to the U.S. government as a result of the criminal prosecution of El Chapo' (formally named Joaquin Archivaldo Guzman Lorea) and other drug lords for border security assets and the completion of the wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.\n \nAdvancing U.S. National Security\n \nIntroduced the Hong Kong Policy Reevaluation Act directing the State Department to report on China's encroachment on Hong Kong's autonomy. This bill was wrapped into another bill that passed Congress and was signed into law by President Trump.\nWas one of the first U.S. senators to visit Hong Kong since the protests began, on a weeklong Indo-Pacific tour.\nSucceeded in getting Chinese entities involved in China's surveillance of religious minorities in Xinjiang added to the BIS Entities List.\nSecured Senate passage of a resolution acknowledging the Armenian genocide.\nSuccessfully pushed the Trump administration to prevent Iran from raising revenue, especially from oil sales.\nBlocked the completion of the Russian-German Nord Stream 2 pipeline to protect European energy independence.\nSecured Senate passage of a resolution calling on the Trump administration to ensure that Sudan does not receive premature relief from measures aimed at countering terrorism.\n \nStanding Up for Israel and Against Anti-Semitism\n \nSuccessfully secured Senate passage of a resolution that condemned all forms of anti-Semitism.\nFought for U.S. recognition of the Golan Heights as Israeli territory, leading the Trump administration to issue the recognition.\n \nStrengthening Our National Defense\n \nSecured 13 measures into the final FY2020 NDAA, including a range of amendments directly relevant to Texas military communities and our military families.\nSecured a provision in the National Defense Authorization Act to enhance congressional oversight of the B-1B fleet and that requires the United States Air Force to brief Congress on a plan to increase readiness on the aircraft. The long-term health of health of the B-1B will help maintain Dyess Air Force Base as a premier installation in our nation's defense.\nSecured a provision in the NDAA directing the Department of the Army and the Marine Corps to jointly develop a plan to sustain the Rough Terrain Container Handler fleets. This provision will support both the work occurring at Red River and Texas companies.\n \nStanding Up for Our Veterans\n \nHelped lead a resolution recognizing the service of our veterans and establishing a Military Retiree Appreciation Day,' which was passed by the Senate.\nEliminated the tax' on spouses of service members who have died due to service-related causes.\n \nFighting for Texas Energy\n \nWorked to secure approval of four liquefied natural gas (LNG) export projects in Texas, which will bring billions of dollars in investments to the state and create tens of thousands of good-paying jobs in Texas.\n \nReinforcing America's Lead in Space\n \nSuccessfully worked to create a Space Force so that the United States has the resources to address challenges in space as space increasingly becomes a domain of military competition.\nWorked to secure Commerce Committee passage of the NASA Authorization Act of 2019, which would provide NASA a clear direction to advance our nation's space initiatives and assert the United States' leadership in the final frontier.\nIntroduced and worked to secure passage of the Space Frontier Act in the Senate Commerce Committee. The Space Frontier Act would support the continued development of a robust commercial space sector and extend America's leadership in space by maximizing our utilization and operation of the International Space Station.\n \nLeading in the Race to 5G\n \nIntroduced the E-FRONTIER Act, bipartisan legislation to prevent the nationalization of commercial 5G networks. The bill has passed out of the Senate Commerce Committee.\n \n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://www.cruz.senate.gov?p=press_release&id=4842", "Sen. Cruz: Christmas Is a Joyous and Hopeful Season, Where We Celebrate the Birth of Jesus Christ and the Promise of His Salvation", "2019-12-24", "2019", "2019-12", "Republican", "House", "TX", "Ted Cruz", "C001098", "www.cruz.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "HOUSTON, Texas - U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) issued the following statement in advance of Christmas Day:\n\"Christmas is a joyous and hopeful season, where we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ and the promise of his salvation. The Prince of Peace, born in Bethlehem, came so that we may know Him and his enduring love, joy, and redemption.\n\"As we read in 1 John:\nThis is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.'\n\"Heidi and I wish you and your family a very Merry Christmas and a blessed New Year. May God continue to bless the great state of Texas and the United States of America.\"\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://ebjohnson.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/congresswoman-eddie-bernice-johnson-announces-13-million-grant-to-martin", "CONGRESSWOMAN EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON ANNOUNCES $1.3 MILLION GRANT TO MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. FAMILY CLINIC", "2019-12-23", "2019", "2019-12", "Democrat", "House", "TX", "Eddie Johnson", "J000126", "ebjohnson.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "CONGRESSWOMAN EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON ANNOUNCES $1.3 MILLION GRANT TO MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. FAMILY CLINIC   \n\t\t\t\t\t DALLAS, TX  Congresswoman Johnson announced today that the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) has awarded a grant totaling $1,397,132 to the Martin Luther King, Jr. Family Clinic.\n\t\t\t\t\tI am proud to announce that the Martin Luther King, Jr. Family Clinic has received this critical funding that will continue to help support thousands of Dallas-Ft. Worth families with various health services and programs, said Congresswoman Johnson. \n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://kaygranger.house.gov/media/e-newsletters/success-every-azle-teen", "Success With Every Azle Teen", "2019-12-23", "2019", "2019-12", "Republican", "House", "TX", "Kay Granger", "G000377", "kaygranger.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Dear Friends,\nGetting a driver's license is an exciting time for the teenage driver. Statistics show it may also lead to some very grown up life lessons. Texas teens are involved in more than 200,000 accidents every year and younger drivers are also more likely to be cited for poor driving. Thanks to a program I recently learned about, teens can now turn a traffic ticket into an opportunity to give back to our North Texas community.\nIn Azle, the Success With Every Azle Teen, or S.W.E.A.T. program, is a way for teens to not only learn how to be a better driver, but also to learn more about their community. S.W.E.A.T. is Azle's version of teen court and allows students with a Class C misdemeanor, the lowest level of criminal offense in Texas, to avoid going through the traditional court process, and instead perform community service.\nTeen court programs are overseen by the municipal courts and offered at the discretion of a municipal judge. In Azle, the program is provided as an option for students to handle citations outside the traditional court process and avoid hefty fines. Successful completion of the S.W.E.A.T. program also allows the student's citation to be dismissed. The offender must be between the ages of 14 and 18 and be enrolled in school. Participation requires a $20 administrative fee, but any fine associated with the violation is waived.\nAs the grandparent of a teenage drivers, I am glad programs like this provide common-sense solutions to issues facing our nation and our youth. It is no secret that our courts face an enormous backlog. Teen court provides an opportunity for students to experience a consequence for their actions without negatively affecting their futures. Even more importantly, teen court programs like Azle's S.W.E.A.T. program can create a mutually beneficial solution for our courts and teens while instilling a sense of community and service in our youth.\nI had the privilege of seeing S.W.E.A.T. in action during my visit earlier this month to the Azle Lions Club Angel Tree distribution. The Angel Tree provides Christmas gifts to children in need and on that day, the teens and the Azle Lions Club distributed gifts to more than 750 children in the Azle community. S.W.E.A.T. coordinators work with local organizations to provide a variety of community service projects for students, which include opportunities such as lawn care or minor home repair projects for the elderly or stuffing backpacks for back-to-school programs in the community.\nThere are similar teen court programs in municipalities throughout our District, which include Keller, Watauga, North Richland Hills, Haltom City, Fort Worth, and Saginaw. Additionally, a teen court program is being considered in Aledo given recent growth. The ideas that have been implemented by Texans from District 12 continue to impress me and I appreciate the opportunity to represent such an innovative District focused on the future of our youth.\nSincerely,\nKay Granger", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://olson.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/olson-rallies-fort-bend-community-to-invite-nobel-peace-prize-winner", "Olson Rallies Fort Bend Community to Invite Nobel Peace Prize Winner Malala Yousafzai to Grand Opening of School Named in Her Honor", "2019-12-23", "2019", "2019-12", "Republican", "House", "TX", "Pete Olson", "O000168", "olson.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Washington DC Rep. Pete Olson (TX-22) rallied support within the local community to invite Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai of Pakistan to the ribbon-cutting for the new Fort Bend ISD elementary school named in her honor. An impressive 24 elected officials signed the letter in support of Olson's initiative, demonstrating strong support for her presence at the opening.\nMalala is an inspiration to students and young women across the world, and her activism in women's education has led to a brighter, well-rounded society,Rep. Olson said. It's only fitting that a school teaching the next generation bears her name. I'm grateful to all the community leaders who supported this effort to secure Malala's presence at the grand opening and dedication of her school. Her presence would be a welcome message of hope and resilience to children across Fort Bend County. We hope to see her there in 2020.\nThe Fort Bend ISD board of trustees approved Malala Yousafzai as the name for Elementary School 51 during the regular meeting Dec. 17. Malala Yousafzai Elementary  part of the 2018 bond program i s scheduled to open in January 2020. Lisa Langston, former principal at Oyster Creek Elementary, will serve as the new school's principal.\nText of the letter and signatories:\nClick hereto read the letter from Rep. Olson and signed by Rep. Al Green (TX-09), Texas State Sens. Joan Huffman, Lois Kolkhorst, Borris Miles, Texas State Reps. Rick Miller, Phil Stephenson, Ron Reynolds, Fort Bend County Judge KP George, Fort Bend County Commissioners Andy Meyers, Vincent Morales, Ken DeMerchant, Grady Prestage and Mayors Charles Jessup, IV, Joe Zimmerman, William Hastings, Aaron Groff, Kenneth Reid, Leonard Scarcella, William Benton, Yolanda Ford, Andrew Bohac, Laurie Boudreaux, Mary Zdunkewicz and Rodney Paylock.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://www.cruz.senate.gov?p=press_release&id=4840", "Sen. Cruz on Fox News: Holding Articles of Impeachment Is 'a Sign of Weakness'", "2019-12-22", "2019", "2019-12", "Republican", "House", "TX", "Ted Cruz", "C001098", "www.cruz.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, appeared on Fox News' Sunday Morning Futures' to discuss Democrats' collapsing impeachment effort and the stunning IG report, released earlier this month, that uncovered the grotesque abuses of power and partisanship at the FBI and DOJ.\nIn response to Speaker Nancy Pelosi's decision to withhold the Articles of Impeachment, Sen. Cruz said:\n\"This is a sign of weakness. This is a sign she understands just how weak these Articles are. These Articles of Impeachment that they actually voted on were really an admission of failure. For months, they had been promising all of this evidence of criminal activity. For months they had been talking about bribery, they had been talking about quid pro quo. But then they heard all the evidence and they got no evidence of it. These articles don't allege any crime. This is the first time in the history of our country that a president has been impeached without a single article alleging any criminal conduct. They don't allege any crime. They don't even allege any federal law violated. This was, at the end of the day, a political response because Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats hate the president.\"\nDiscussing the findings from the IG report, Sen. Cruz - a former Associate Deputy Attorney General at the Department of Justice - said:\n\"The Inspector General report is a stunning indictment of the politicization of the Obama Department of Justice and the FBI. The Inspector General Report details 17 specific, serious, misinterpretations the DOJ and the FBI made the FISA court. I'll give you the most stunning example the Inspector General uncovered: a senior lawyer at the FBI fabricated evidence and here's what happened. Carter Page, an outside advisor to the Trump Campaign, he also is periodically talking to Russians, including some sketchy Russians and so, the FBI wants to get a wiretap. [...] The FBI sends an e-mail to the CIA and says Hey, is this guy a source for you?' The CIA emails back and they say, Yes, he is a source.' The FBI assistant general counsel takes that e-mail and he alters it. He types in the words. The CIA says he's a source. The FBI lawyer types in, No, he is not a source.' [...] 180 degrees, exactly the opposite. He then sends that email on to the Department of Justice and uses that as the basis for a sworn statement to the FISA court to get a wiretap.\"\nHe continued:\n\"That is, on its face, criminal conduct. [...] That senior leadership at the FBI, that's how badly they wanted to spy on Donald Trump and get Donald Trump. It is a horrifying abuse of power. [...] This was spying on the Republican nominee to be president. They sent in multiple confidential human sources wearing wires.\"\nCommending U.S. Attorney General Bill Barr and U.S. Attorney John Dunham for continuing to investigate the abuses of power and partisanship within law enforcement, Sen. Cruz noted:\n\"One of the worst legacies of the Obama Administration is the corruption of law enforcement and the intelligence community. The big unanswered question is How high up the chain did this go.' We know that the Deputy Director of the FBI McCabe was read in and authorized this. We know that the Director of the FBI, James Comey, was read in and authorized this. Did the Attorney General, Loretta Lynch, sign off on spying on the Trump campaign in the middle of the election? Did the National Security Advisor at the White House? Did Barack Obama? Did Joe Biden? [...] Not a single Democrat in the House cares about the answer to any of this.\"\nSen. Cruz also joined the Fox News Rundown podcast to discuss how House Democrats' are using impeachment as a political weapon against President Trump:\n\"You know, this has never happened in the history of our country, never once has a president been impeached without at least one article alleging a federal crime. This is a purely partisan vote, only Democrats supported this, that's never happened before either. [...] In the Senate, we're actually doing our job, we are voting, passing legislation, we're confirming judges, we're confirming members of the administration. It's the House, the House Democrats, that refuse to do their job. Their only priority is attacking the president.  And I think the voters are frustrated that House Democrats seem to think hating Donald Trump is the reason they were elected.\"\nWhen asked about the substantive policy wins President Trump and Republicans in the Senate have delivered for the American people, Sen. Cruz said:\n\"I have worked very, very closely with President Trump. And, we've got some enormous policy victories for the American people. The biggest tax cut of a generation, repealing hundreds of job killing regulations. We've helped produce the lowest unemployment in 50 years. We've helped produce the lowest African American employment every recorded. The lowest Hispanic unemployment ever recorded. We're in the middle of the biggest military rebuild since Ronald Reagan. We moved our embassy in Israel to Jerusalem. We pulled out of the disastrous Iranian Nuclear Deal. We, the President had nominated and we've confirmed 160 new federal judges to defend the Constitution. All of that is a big deal. Those are real results. That's what the men and women of Texas elected me to do.\"\nWatch Sen. Cruz's Sunday Morning Futures interview here.  Listen to Sen. Cruz's Fox News Rundown interview here.\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://www.cruz.senate.gov?p=press_release&id=4841", "Sen. Cruz: As the Celebration Begins This Evening and the Menorah Is Lit for Eight Nights, Heidi and I Wish the Jewish People a Very Happy Hanukkah", "2019-12-22", "2019", "2019-12", "Republican", "House", "TX", "Ted Cruz", "C001098", "www.cruz.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "HOUSTON, Texas - U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) today issued the following statement marking the start of Hanukkah:\n\"This evening, the Jewish people will gather together to celebrate the Festival of Lights. This holiday is a time to remember and celebrate the heroic revolt and triumph of the Maccabees, who liberated the historic land of Judea, rededicated the Second Temple in Jerusalem, and restored the right to worship freely. During this time, we are grateful for our close ally Israel, who stands as a beacon of liberty, and shines as a bright light in one of the darkest regions in the world.\n\"As the celebration begins this evening and the menorah is lit for eight nights, Heidi and I wish the Jewish people a very Happy Hanukkah.\"\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://www.cruz.senate.gov?p=video&id=4839", "Cruz on Fox News SLAMS Dems' Impeachment Sham & Obama Admins' Legacy of DOJ & FBI Abusing Its Power", "2019-12-22", "2019", "2019-12", "Republican", "House", "TX", "Ted Cruz", "C001098", "www.cruz.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Central TX \n\t\t\t\t\t(512) 916-5834  300 E 8th  Suite 961  Austin, TX 78701  Email\n\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t North TX \n\t\t\t\t\t(214) 599-8749  Lee Park Tower II  3626 N. Hall St.  Suite 410  Dallas, TX 75219  Email\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t Southeast TX \n\t\t\t\t\t(713) 718-3057  The Mickey Leland Federal Building  1919 Smith Street  Suite 9047  Houston, TX 77002\nEmail\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t South/Cen. TX \n\t\t\t\t\t(210) 340-2885  9901 IH-10W  Suite 950  San Antonio, TX 78230  Email\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t East TX \n\t\t\t\t\t(903) 593-5130305 S. Broadway  Suite 501  Tyler, TX 75702  Email\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t South TX \n\t\t\t\t\t(956) 686-7339   200 S. 10th St   Suite 1603   McAllen, TX 78501   Email\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t Washington, D.C. \n\t\t\t\t\t(202) 224-5922  127A Russell  Washington, DC 20510  Contact", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://burgess.house.gov/blog/?postid=402256", "Burgess Votes to Pass Defense Appropriations for 2020 Fiscal Year", "2019-12-20", "2019", "2019-12", "Republican", "House", "TX", "Michael Burgess", "B001248", "burgess.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Washington, D.C.  Congressman Michael C. Burgess, M.D. (R-TX) member of the House Rules Committee and Republican Leader of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health released the following statement after the House passed both appropriations packages for the 2020 Fiscal Year.\r\nSince coming to Congress, I have worked to ensure that Texas values are reflected in our government spending, Burgess said. I understand the importance of providing funding for the humanitarian and security crisis on our southern border and working to rebuild our military after years of being underfunded.\r\nWhile one of the appropriations bills included critical funding the other left hardworking Americans with the check. It is past time for Congress to pass twelve appropriations bills, as required by law. We can no longer afford to wait until the last minute to complete one of our most basic, and important, responsibilities. I believe I was sent to Congress to provide fiscal solutions that will rein in our national deficit while continuing to grow our economy, allowing for hard-working families to prosper. My desire is that in the coming year Congress will put aside partisan politics and get back to the business of legislating on behalf of the American people. \r\n\r\nBurgess voted to pass the defense and national security appropriations bill.\r\n\r\n    The Fiscal Year 2020 Appropriations packages included the following:\r\n    Prioritizes national security and continues to rebuild the military.\r\n    Provides $1.3 billion for a border wall system along our southern border.\r\n    Provides resources and authorities to address the humanitarian and security crisis on our southern border.\r\n    Maintains prior pro-life funding restrictions.\r\n    Provides affordable alternatives to expensive Obamacare plans.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://burgess.house.gov/blog/?postid=402257", "Burgess Round-Up: Week in Review", "2019-12-20", "2019", "2019-12", "Republican", "House", "TX", "Michael Burgess", "B001248", "burgess.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "The Kick-off I started my week by joining Fox News' Mornings with Maria to talk about funding the federal government, the United States Mexico Canada Trade Agreement, and the impeachment vote. Here are a few takeaway quotes:  \r\n\"I don't think there is a person here on the hill that doesn't remember last year with an appropriations lapse and so called government shutdown. That is not a good place for any of us to be. The pressure is on to get this done.\" \r\n \"The good newsfrom my perspective was your lead in, the economy has done well this last year.\"  \r\n\r\n\r\nThe Lead-up\r\nAfter speaking with Maria, I joined Fox News' America's Newsroom to discuss the upcoming House Rules Committee hearing on Articles of Impeachment. Here are three points from my interview: \r\n\"I think what you are about to see is nothing different from what you have seen all along. This exercise is going to be revealed to be highly partisan,extremelydivisive for the country, and they have no provable case.\" \r\n\"We [Republicans] will argue for a longer period of time so that everyone can be heard. They [Democrats] obviously want a shorter period because they have a thin case that is impossible to defend.\"\r\n\"Here's the problem; it's not going to be a fair process, it didn't start as a fair process, it hasn't been a fair process at any point along the line, it's not going to be a fair process in rules, and I will predict it is not going to be a fair process on the [House] Floor.\"\r\n\r\n\r\nThe Creation of the Rule \r\nAs a member of the House Rules Committee, I was able to voice my concern about Articles of Impeachment and fought to provide every member ample time to defend why they were voting the way they were. In the end, Republicans were out voted 4-9 to ensure this provision. Here is a snip-it of my statement that evening:\r\n\r\n\"This impeachment has been all about very little facts and a great deal of anger, Democrats are angry at the president and angry at Americans for electing him. That's not a good look for Congress.\"\r\n\r\n\r\nDebate on the Floor \r\nAs the nation watched to see the predicted outcome, I went to the House Floor and explained why history would reflect poorly on the actions taken Wednesday evening. \r\n\"The rush to impeach first and solidify the case second threatens the credibility of the process and the body engaged, this House of Representatives.\" \r\n\"Chairman Nadler and Chairman Schiff refused to comply with the rules of the House in granting access to committee records for Members and scheduling a minority hearing in a reasonable amount of time, preventing the American people from being equally represented in the process.\"\r\n\"Democrats claim that we must protect the integrity of our election. If they truly care, then I must ask: What are we missing while we've remained focused on impeachment?\" \r\nThe Outcome \r\n In the end, the House voted and passed Articles of Impeachment. While I do not believe the evidence presented amounts to an impeachable offense, my desire is that in the coming weeks the country will be able to come back together and heal the wounds caused by this partisan exercise.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://gohmert.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=399744", "Gohmert's Statement on Foreign-Trade Zones Board Granting the City of Lufkin, Texas Official Foreign-Trade Zone (FTZ) Designation", "2019-12-20", "2019", "2019-12", "Republican", "House", "TX", "Louie Gohmert", "G000552", "gohmert.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Congressman Louie Gohmert (TX-01) released the following statement today regarding the news that the U.S. Department of Commerce Foreign-Trade Zones Board has approved an application from Lufkin, Texas to establish a Foreign-Trade Zone (FTZ):\r\n\"Despite some of the toxicity in Washington, D.C., this is a great day for the First District of Texas, the City of Lufkin, and the future of east Texas. We are grateful to our friend, Secretary Wilbur Ross, for his personal interest in getting this done. There were some serious challenges, but the knowledge that this designation was proper coupled with the determination to see it through overcame the obstacles faced by the City of Lufkin.\r\nThe Foreign-Trade Zone designation will open up this great city to the global market, as well as, all the business and job opportunities that come with that market access. If the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement approved by the House of Representatives this week is also approved by the Senate, there will be an even greater opportunity for the dawning of a new era of economic growth for Lufkin.\r\nBob Samford and his whole team in Lufkin deserve the most glowing accolades for their foresight, their determination, and their relentlessness. Proverbs tells us where there is no vision, the people perish. Bob and his team had vision and the area will be rewarded for generations to come.\"", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://www.cruz.senate.gov?p=press_release&id=4835", "Sen. Cruz at The Heritage Foundation: If This Becomes the Standard for Impeachment, Every President Going Forward Will Be Impeached Whenever the House Is in the Opposing Party", "2019-12-20", "2019", "2019-12", "Republican", "House", "TX", "Ted Cruz", "C001098", "www.cruz.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), chairman of the Subcommittee on The Constitution, this week participated in a conversation with the Heritage Foundation's John Malcolm on the ramifications of House Democrats' biased and baseless impeachment of President Donald Trump. During their conversation, Sen. Cruz, who has litigated nine cases before the Supreme Court and served as a law clerk for the last Chief Justice to oversee an impeachment in the Senate, discussed the dangerous precedent House Democrats have set by moving forward-for the first time the history of our country-with Articles of Impeachment that do not allege a single crime was committed or law was violated.\nAs Sen. Cruz said:\n\"I think it is an admission of almost complete defeat. So the two Articles of Impeachment, they don't include a single crime. There was an incredible tell' from the Democrats, because they put out--I think its two weeks ago now--what they called a scholarly report.' Fifty-five pages laying out their legal arguments why they did not need to prove a crime. That for impeachment you had to demonstrate no criminal offense. You did not have to demonstrate any criminal law was violated. You didn't have to demonstrate that any federal law was violated. You could literally impeach a president, even if they didn't have a speeding ticket. They could impeach him.\"\nDescribing the first Article of Impeachment, abuse of power, as \"lawless,\" Sen. Cruz:\n\"Now that standard was on its face lawless. [...] Donald Trump, [is now] the first president in history [to be] impeached without an article claiming a criminal violation. Ultimately they called it an abuse-of-power.' There's no federal statute that makes abuse-of-power--what they've called it--a criminal offense. They've just made this up.\"\nSen. Cruz went on to describe the second Article of Impeachment, Obstruction of Congress, \"jaw-droppingly weak\":\n\"As weak as the first article, the second article is orders of magnitude weaker. It is a jaw-droppingly weak article. Now, why is that? First of all, it's worth noting what the second article is. So its obstruction. Media folks report, Oh! Obstruction! Okay, that's bad.' Well hold on a second. It's not obstruction of justice. Obstruction of justice is a crime. That's not what they alleged. Why? Because they can't prove an obstruction of justice. [...] They simply said the mere fact that you assert a privilege is itself impeachable, without their bothering to issue a subpoena or litigate any of these matters. By the way, if that is impeachable conduct, all 45 presidents we've had the United States have committed impeachable conduct. It is an absurd standard to say asserting a privilege is a high crime and misdemeanor. And that's what the second article in the House [says].\"\nLooking ahead, Sen. Cruz went on to describe the historical significance of House Democrats' baseless impeachment narrative, noting:\n\"One of the scary things about this standard, what the House Democrats are doing is they're just treating impeachment as a political weapon. Impeachment was meant to be an extraordinary remedy. It was not simply meant to be a tool for one party to attack the other party. If this becomes the standard, every president going forward will be impeached whenever the House is in the opposing party.\"\nHe also discussed how House Democrats are using the impeachment process as a political tool:\n\"They don't like the job Donald Trump is doing as president. They disagree with his policies. They disagree with just about everything about him. [...] Look, there is a remedy. If you disagree with someone politically, if you disagree with someone's policies, the remedy that the Constitution sets up are called elections.' We have them every four years, and you go to the American people and you make your case. The Democrats are entirely entitled to make the case to the American people that they disagree with his policies or his politics or anything else. But they're not entitled to abuse the Constitution's impeachment proceeding by impeaching him with no allegation of a crime and no facts or evidence that support that he's committed an impeachable offense.\"\nSen. Cruz concluded and shared his hopes for the Senate trial:\n\"I do think the end result of this, we're going to have a trial, [it's] going to be a fair trial, both sides are going to be allowed to present their case, and then the verdict will be not guilty. How can I say that? Because [House Democrats - the prosecutors] have not proven their case. They haven't alleged a high crime or misdemeanor. The constitutional standard matters.  By the way if they had alleged bribery, if they had proven bribery, bribery is a high crime or misdemeanor. If they had facts and could prove bribery that would be a very different outcome, but they don't have the evidence for that. Given the articles they are voting on, the chances that this is thrown out after a fair trial are 100 percent, because they haven't met their case.\"\nWatch full video of Sen. Cruz and John Malcolm's discussion at The Heritage Foundation here.  Watch Sen. Cruz discuss the history of the Constitution's Impeachment Clause here.\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://www.cruz.senate.gov?p=press_release&id=4837", "Sen. Cruz: Passing the Education Freedom Scholarships and Opportunity Act Would Be the Most Significant Education Legislation Since the G.I. Bill", "2019-12-20", "2019", "2019-12", "Republican", "House", "TX", "Ted Cruz", "C001098", "www.cruz.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) this week participated in a discussion hosted by the Council on Competitiveness with Department of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos and Dr. Michael Crow, the president of Arizona State University, focused on Sen. Cruz's Education Freedom Scholarships and Opportunity Act.\nDuring the discussion, Sen. Cruz said:\n\"Secretary DeVos and I have worked very closely on legislation that would provide $10 billion a year in federal tax credits that would be allocated to the states with state scholarship granting organizations. Now that's a $100 billion over 10 years. Even in Washington, $100 billion is a lot of money.\"\nHe added:\n\"Those are new resources coming into - half of it, K-12 education, half of it adult vocational education, apprenticeships, helping adults get new skills. And those are dollar to dollar tax credits for programs that are implemented at the state level, that are designed at the state level, that respond to state needs. If you want to talk about powerfully transforming the educational system, increasing the opportunities in the outcomes, this legislation -- if we can get it passed -- will be the most far-reaching, the most significant legislation since the GI bill.\"\nSen. Cruz has been a strong advocate for empowering America's students and families through school choice and as a part of his efforts in February introduced the Education Freedom Scholarships and Opportunity Act, a bill which would expand elementary, secondary, and vocational education opportunities for students by providing a federal tax credit to encourage individuals and businesses to donate to nonprofit scholarship funds.\nEarlier this month, Sen. Cruz participated in a roundtable discussion with President Donald Trump, Vice President Mike Pence, Secretary DeVos, along with Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick (R-Texas), several teachers, parents, and students, focused on empowering American families with educational freedom and opportunities.\nRead more about the Education Freedom Scholarships and Opportunity Act here and here.\nWatch Sen. Cruz discuss the need for Congress to advance the Education Freedom Scholarships and Opportunity Act here.\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://www.cruz.senate.gov?p=press_release&id=4838", "Sens. Cruz, Braun Introduce Legislation to Provide Greater Health Care Freedom", "2019-12-20", "2019", "2019-12", "Republican", "House", "TX", "Ted Cruz", "C001098", "www.cruz.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Mike Braun (R-Ind.) this week introduced the Personalized Care Act (PCA), legislation to make Americans' health care more portable, accessible, and tailored to meet their unique needs by dramatically expanding Heath Savings Accounts (HSA) - a pre-tax savings tool millions of Americans use to cover the costs of their health care.\nUpon introducing the legislation, Sen. Cruz said:\n\"The pressure to change the health care status quo is rightfully building, and the key question is whether Congress will use this pressure to finally create a true free market health care system or build on the failures of Obamacare. As Democrats push for full government control of America's health care system, I'm fighting to put patients and their doctors back in control of their health care, instead of Washington bureaucrats. By expanding this important savings tool, the Personalized Care Act increases portability, expands access, makes it easier to save for the costs of health insurance premiums and medical care. The commonsense, consensus reforms in this bill will give millions of Americans the freedom to make the health care choices that best meet their needs, moving America way from a federal health care takeover and toward a patient-centered system.\"\nThe PCA would:\n Expand HSAs to Millions of Americans. PCA decouples HSAs from high deductible health insurance plans (HDHP), and expands HSAs to Americans in all major medical health insurance plans and government health programs (Medicare, Medicaid, CHIP, etc.), as well those participating in other present and future innovative forms of healthcare financing, like healthcare sharing ministries, short-term limited-duration plans, and medical indemnity plans.\n\tIncrease HSA Contribution Limits. Increases HSA contribution limits from $3,550 (2020 limit) to $10,800 (PCA) for individuals and from $7,100 (2020 limit) to $29,500 (PCA) for families.\n\tAllow HSAs to Pay for Healthcare Premiums. Allows individuals and families to use their HSAs to pay for health insurance premiums.\n\tAllow HSAs to Pay for Direct Primary Care and Other Direct Medical Care Arrangements. Allows account holders to use HSAs to pay for periodic fees for direct primary care or other direct medical care.  Ensures that such arrangements are treated as qualified medical expenses, not secondary insurance plans.\n Allow HSAs to Cover OTC Medicines and Repealing the Enhanced Penalty For Nonqualified Distributions. Expands HSAs to cover over-the-counter medicines. Repeals the 20 percent enhanced penalty for nonqualified distributions from HSAs, implementing a lower 10 percent penalty.\n\tAllow HSAs to Pay for the Costs of Healthcare Sharing Ministries and Arrangements. HSAs may be used to pay for healthcare sharing ministries and their associated administrative fees.  (Healthcare sharing ministries and arrangements do not label these costs as \"premiums,\" but as sharing payments and administrative fees.)\nRead the full bill here.\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://www.cruz.senate.gov?p=video&id=4836", "Sen. Cruz at the Heritage Foundation Discussing Democrats Partisanship During Impeachment Process", "2019-12-20", "2019", "2019-12", "Republican", "House", "TX", "Ted Cruz", "C001098", "www.cruz.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Central TX \n\t\t\t\t\t(512) 916-5834  300 E 8th  Suite 961  Austin, TX 78701  Email\n\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t North TX \n\t\t\t\t\t(214) 599-8749  Lee Park Tower II  3626 N. Hall St.  Suite 410  Dallas, TX 75219  Email\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t Southeast TX \n\t\t\t\t\t(713) 718-3057  The Mickey Leland Federal Building  1919 Smith Street  Suite 9047  Houston, TX 77002\nEmail\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t South/Cen. TX \n\t\t\t\t\t(210) 340-2885  9901 IH-10W  Suite 950  San Antonio, TX 78230  Email\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t East TX \n\t\t\t\t\t(903) 593-5130305 S. Broadway  Suite 501  Tyler, TX 75702  Email\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t South TX \n\t\t\t\t\t(956) 686-7339   200 S. 10th St   Suite 1603   McAllen, TX 78501   Email\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t Washington, D.C. \n\t\t\t\t\t(202) 224-5922  127A Russell  Washington, DC 20510  Contact", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://ebjohnson.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/congresswoman-eddie-bernice-johnson-recognizes-isd-student-s-heroic-act", "CONGRESSWOMAN EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON RECOGNIZES ISD  STUDENTS HEROIC ACT", "2019-12-20", "2019", "2019-12", "Democrat", "House", "TX", "Eddie Johnson", "J000126", "ebjohnson.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "December 20, 2019                                           Contact: Dena L. Craig\n\t\t\t\t                                                                 (202) 226-6831\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tDALLAS, TX  Rep. Johnson honored Bryan Adams High School Freshman, Kaveion Morris, during her annual district holiday party for his heroic act of saving a girl from drowning earlier this month.\n\t\t\t\tThis young man deserves recognition for his bravery and courage, said Congresswoman Johnson. His immediate anddecisive actionsresulted in saving a life!\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t                                     ###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://escobar.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=139", "Congresswoman Veronica Escobar Announces 2019 Congressional App Challenge Winners", "2019-12-20", "2019", "2019-12", "Democrat", "House", "TX", "Veronica Escobar", "E000299", "escobar.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Today, Congresswoman Veronica Escobar (TX-16) announced the winners of the 2019 Congressional App Challenge: Parkland Middle School students D'Andre Ramirez and Daniel Avalos, who won with the submission of LunchWeek.\r\rCongratulations to D'Andre and Daniel from Parkland Middle School. Their winning app to pre-order school meals with just a few taps allows students to get their lunch quicker and helps schools with food preparation and reduce waste, said Congresswoman Escobar. I commend them and all the talented El Paso coders who submitted such innovative and creative apps and thank their families and educators for sparking student's curiosity in STEM.\r\rOfficially launched by the U.S. House of Representatives in 2015, this nationwide competition encourages middle and high school students to learn how to code by creating their own applications. The App Challenge is intended to highlight the value of computer science and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) education.\r\rApplicants competed to win prizes, including a $250 Amazon Web Services credit that can be used toward the cost of hosting their app, and to have their work displayed in the Capitol Building and featured on the House of Representatives' website, House.gov.\r\rD'Andre and Daniel, alongside winners from across the country, will be recognized by Congresswoman Escobar during her January town hall meeting and will attend the #HouseofCode Capitol Hill Reception in Washington D.C., where they will demonstrate their app to Members of Congress and staff.\r\rCongresswoman Escobar received a total of 32 submissions from students across five middle and high schools within Texas' 16th Congressional District.\r\rBelow are the full results of the 2019 Congressional App Challenge:\r\r1st Place: LunchWeek by Daniel Avalos and D'Andre Ramirez. 7th Grade at Parkland Middle School\r\r2nd Place: Blued-Away by Gustavo Ramirez, Dennis Carroll, Enrique Bermudez, and Juan Carlos Gallegos. 12th Grade Americas High School\r\r3rd Place: Benji's Adventure by Lianna Estrada, Alondra Baquier, and Kamilla Madera. 11th Grade Northwest Early College High School\r\rMore information on the Congressional App Challenge can be found here.\r\r###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://hurd.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/hurd-bill-stop-drug-smugglers-border-crisis-becomes-law", "Hurd Bill to Stop Drug Smugglers, Border Crisis Becomes Law", "2019-12-20", "2019", "2019-12", "Republican", "House", "TX", "Will Hurd", "H001073", "hurd.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON, DC  Today, the bipartisan bill by U.S. Representatives Will Hurd (TX-23) and Abigail Spanberger (VA-07) to ensure the intelligence community prioritizes resources to combat drug trafficking, human trafficking and human smuggling in the Northern Triangle and Mexico was signed into law as part of theNational Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). \nThis bipartisan initiative marks Hurd's 16th piece of legislation to be signed into law since 2015 and continues his efforts to find long-term, bipartisan solutions to the migration crisis as the Representative of over 820 miles of the U.S.-Mexico border, more than any other member of the House. Earlier this year, he expressed concern that the intelligence community was not maximizing the use of intelligence to deny and disrupt transnational smuggling networks that are key contributors to the migration crisis at the U.S.-Mexico Border.\nThe former CIA officers introduced H.R. 3720, the Trafficking and Smuggling Intelligence Act earlier this year, and it first passed the House on July 17 as an amendment to the Damon Paul Nelson and Matthew Young Pollard Intelligence Authorization Act.\nMy philosophy is simple and has remained the same: the only way we get big things done in Congress is by working together. My bipartisan effort with Rep. Spanberger to stop drug smugglers exacerbating our border crisis and putting innocent lives at risk is the perfect example of that, said Hurd. I'm proud that this is my 16th piece of legislation to be signed into law in 5 years, and I'll continue to work with my colleagues in Congress over the next year to find solutions to big problems and deliver real results back home.\nTo tackle the security and humanitarian challenges at our southern border, we need to understand the root causes of instability, illegal migration, increased levels of asylum seekers, and senseless violence in Mexico and the Northern Triangle, said Spanberger, a former federal law enforcement agent and CIA case officer. As two former intelligence officers, Congressman Hurd and I recognize how the reprehensible activities of criminal organizations in this region create a devastating ripple effect that threatens our national security and exacerbates the ongoing humanitarian crisis along the U.S-Mexico border. At its core, our bipartisan legislation will deploy the expertise of the intelligence community to keep the American people safe and secure. Today, I'd like to thank President Trump for signing our bill into lawand I'd like to thank Congressman Hurd for working across the aisle to protect vulnerable populations in Central America and for committing to strengthening the security of our borders and points of entry.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://olson.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/olson-urges-december-release-of-citgo-6", "Olson Urges December Release of Citgo 6", "2019-12-20", "2019", "2019-12", "Republican", "House", "TX", "Pete Olson", "O000168", "olson.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Washington, DC  Rep. Pete Olson (TX-22) today urged the Venezuelan government to release the Citgo 6. These six Americans were called to Venezuela and arrested in 2017. They have been imprisoned and detained without needed healthcare for two years without trial. Since then 18 hearings have been scheduled and cancelled while they remain separated from their families. Four of the men are residents of TX-22.\nVenezuelan President Nicols Maduro can give the Citgo 6 the only thing they want for Christmas: release back to their homes in the United States, Olson stated. My discussions with the State Department and the families of the Citgo 6 all indicate that there is no time like the present for the Venezuelan government to act in good faith, end the unjust imprisonment of these Americans and reunite Tomeu Vadell, Gustavo Cardenas, Jorge Toledo, Alirio Zambrano, Jose Luis Zambrano and Jose Angel Pereira with their loved ones in the United States at long last.\nAdditional information about the Citgo 6 can be found here.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://williams.house.gov/media-center/in-the-news/locals-weigh-in-on-trump-s-trials", "Locals weigh in on Trumps trials", "2019-12-20", "2019", "2019-12", "Republican", "House", "TX", "Roger Williams", "W000816", "williams.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "While Trump is all but certain to avoid removal from office, a portion of his legacy took shape Wednesday when he became just the third president in American history to be impeached by the U.S. House.\nThe two articles of impeachment approved along largely partisan lines on Wednesday stand as a constitutional rebuke that will stay with Trump even as he tries to trivialize their meaning and use them to power his reelection bid.\nIt'll be impossible to look back at this presidency and not discuss impeachment. It is permanently tied to his record, said Julian Zelizer, a presidential historian at Princeton University. Trump now always becomes part of the conversation about misusing presidential power. Ukraine will be his Watergate. Ukraine will be his Lewinsky.\nHistory books will add Trump to the section that features Bill Clinton, impeached 21 years ago for lying under oath about sex with White House intern Monica Lewinsky, and Andrew Johnson, impeached 151 years ago for defying Congress on Reconstruction. Richard Nixon, who avoided impeachment by resigning during the Watergate investigation, is there, too.\nTrump himself is keenly aware of the impact that impeachment may have on his legacy.\nAllies in recent months have described him as seething over the prospect, taking impeachment more as a personal attack and an attempt to delegitimize his presidency than a judgment on his conduct. Trump said Tuesday that he took zero responsibility for his expected impeachment.\nFew people in high position could have endured or passed this test, Trump wrote in a fiery six-page letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on the eve of his impeachment. You do not know, nor do you care, the great damage and hurt you have inflicted upon wonderful and loving members of my family.\nThe letter, rife with exclamation points, random capitalizations and scores of grievances, portrayed the president as the victim of an unfair and politically motivated attack.\nOne hundred years from now, when people look back at this affair, I want them to understand it, and learn from it, so that it can never happen to another President again, he wrote.\nWhite House press secretary Stephanie Grisham conceded Thursday that Trump was unhappy with the outcome. The president has said many times that this isn't something he necessarily wants on his resume, she said in an interview with ABC's Good Morning America.\nWith Republicans in control of the Senate, Trump's acquittal in a January trial there seems assured.\nHe has asserted that a public backlash to impeachment may help him politically by firing up loyal supporters and attracting more independents to his cause. He's mused about taking a post-verdict victory lap, a veritable Not Guilty Tour akin to the Thank You Tour he conducted during the 2016 presidential transition.\nLocal reaction\nLocal reaction to Wednesday's vote also fell along party lines.\nU.S. Rep. Roger Williams, R-Austin, roundly condemned the vote.\nToday will be remembered as the day that House Democrats, claiming a false moral supremacy over the desire of the American people, executed a deliberate and orchestrated plan to overturn a Presidential election, Williams said. It will be the first time in history that a party paraded out their ivy league academics to explain to 31 states and almost 63 million people, that their voices should not be heard and why their votes should not be counted.\nThis entire impeachment charade has been an extraordinary disservice to the people we were elected to represent, and it has set a dangerous precedent for future generations. Donald J. Trump is our President, chosen by the American people. The Democrats' attempt to change history will never undo that.\nCleburne Republican Elizabeth Victory said the fact that the Senate will almost certainly take the matter no farther renders Wednesday's House vote ultimately meaningless.\nHonestly, I've had enough of all their talk and wasting time and haven't really been watching or reading about it, Victory said. I have a life and more important things to do. [The impeachment vote] is going anywhere in the Senate anyway.\nThere's no reason for these supposed charges against the president anyway. It's all a hoax. The Democrats have been trying to come up with something to get the president out of office since the day he was elected.\nBill Hammons, Johnson County Democratic Party Precinct 5 Chairman, agreed with Victory that impeachment proceedings against Trump will almost certainly die in the Senate.\nNo, Hammons said. With the division and partisanship of the country and Congress there's no chance of this going anywhere in the Senate. Part of the reason is that [Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell] is as much of a problem as Trump. He's just a dismal person, certainly not someone I'd want to have a drink with.\nThat said, Trump's impeachment vote relays a message well worth proclaiming, Hammons said.\nIt was well deserved by Trump and well earned, Hammons said. Trump is probably a criminal and definitely a traitor to our country.\nVictory countered that Democrats should be wary of November's general election.\nI think this impeachment situation will most likely help Trump get re-elected next year, Victory said.\nHammons begged to differ.\nI think this hurts Trump's chances next year, Hammons said. I think this may lead to an awakening among some people who maybe marginally supported Trump in the past. I'm being too optimistic maybe but I hope not.\nTrump's reaction [to Wednesday's House vote] was certainly sad. It doesn't seem possible that so many people can continue their support for him. But so far no one in the Republican party has been willing or able to stand up to him or put a cap on his antics.\nOne thing's for sure. It's going to be a nasty 11 months between now and November and a lot more money is going to be spent on elections than should be.\nFirst in history\nPresidential historian Jon Meacham said impeachment will make Trump the first insurgent incumbent president in American history.\nHe compared the reflexive partisanship of this moment to the 19th-century tribalism that surrounded Johnson and Reconstruction, requiring a divided nation to assess what's being said instead of simply saluting the person saying it.\nUniquely able to command attention, Trump has held sway over his adopted Republican Party, reshaping it in his image even while defying its orthodoxy. He has thrilled his base of supporters with his confrontational style and tough rhetoric, using his combative Twitter account to fight political rivals and dispute from the outset accusations of foreign electoral interference during special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia probe.\nWhile Trump escaped that episode with his grip on power unchanged, the Ukraine story stunned the White House with the speed that it overwhelmed Washington. Trump fell back on the same playbook -- deny, delay, denounce -- but could not avoid an impeachment inquiry at the hands of the Democratic-controlled House.\nKellyanne Conway, senior counselor to the president, on Wednesday rejected the notion that Trump believes his legacy will be tarnished by impeachment.\nNo, he doesn't, Conway said. He sees it as a stain on the legacy of people who have been so focused and hell-bent on removing him from office.\nWhile Clinton apologized for his behavior and Nixon stepped aside, Trump has remained unbowed, sticking to his contention that he had a perfect phone call with Ukraine's president. Trump and many of his Republican defenders have rejected the testimony of a parade of government witnesses who testified about Trump's efforts to push Kyiv to investigate potential election rival Joe Biden.\nAt a rally in Michigan that began mere minutes after the House began its historic vote, Trump tried to publicly downplay the stain on his record.\nIt's impeachment lite. With Richard Nixon, I could see it as a very dark era, Trump said. I don't know about you, but I'm having a good time. But I also know we have a great group of people behind us in the Republican Party.\nThe president's approval rating has largely remained unchanged during the impeachment inquiry, his pugnacious personality and populism helping cement his hold with supporters.\nExtraordinary polarization around impeachment is not new, but the fierce partisanship this time has been heightened by a unique aspect of this moment: Trump is standing for reelection, while Clinton and Nixon were halfway through their second terms when they faced the threat of impeachment.\nThe outcome of that election may alter how Trump's impeachment is ultimately remembered.\nDonald Trump is now going to be synonymous with impeachment. There is no way to market it like a badge of honor. It's a medallion of shame, said Douglas Brinkley, presidential historian at Rice University.\nBut if he wins, the impeachment looks somewhat smaller. It means he defied it and remade the modern Republican Party in his own image and kept them loyal.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://williams.house.gov/media-center/newsletters/i-voted-no", "I Voted No", "2019-12-20", "2019", "2019-12", "Republican", "House", "TX", "Roger Williams", "W000816", "williams.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Dear Texans,\nWednesday's vote toimpeach the duly-elected President of the United Stateswas truly historical. However, its unique place in history is not for the reasons the Democratic party is so desperately trying to convey. It will be remembered as the day that the Democrats, claiming a false moral supremacy over the desire of the American people, executed a deliberate and orchestrated plan to overturn a Presidential election. It will be the first time in history that a party paraded out their ivy league academics to explain to 31 states and almost 63 million people, including nearly 4.7 million Texans, that their voices should not be heard and their votes should not be counted. Despite the Democrats' urgency to rush this process through the House because of \"national security concerns,\" Speaker Pelosi's threat to withhold sending the Articles of Impeachment to the Senate for a full trial, as is historical precedent, proves once again that this entire process is a mockery of our Constitution.\nMy colleagues on the other side of the aisle arrived at a partisan and self-directed fork in road, and chose the road never before traveled.\nDonald J. Trump is our President, chosen by the American people. The Democrats' attempt to revise history will never change that. May God bless the greatest country in the world, the United States of America.\nClickhereor on the image above to watch my remarks on the House floor condemning the impeachment of President Trump.\nIn God we trust,\nRoger Williams\nMember of Congress", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.cornyn.senate.gov/content/news/cornyn%E2%80%99s-bill-streamline-military-voting-overseas-become-law-today", "Cornyn\u2019s Bill to Streamline Military Voting Overseas to Become Law Today", "2019-12-20", "2019", "2019-12", "Republican", "House", "TX", "John Cornyn", "C001056", "www.cornyn.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON- U.S. Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) released the following statement in advance of President Trump signing Sen. Cornyn's Military Voting Protection Act into law this evening as a part of the National Defense Authorization Act.The new law will ensure service members are provided with ballots and registration cards necessary to vote while deployed overseas along with instruction from trained personnel on how to cast their vote in their registered state:\nSoldiers, airmen, sailors, and marines regularly put their lives on the line to defend our democracy, and it's only right they have ample opportunity to fully participate in that democracy, said Sen. Cornyn. This law will ensure that all service members' voices will be heard, regardless of whether they're donning the uniform at home or abroad.  \nBackground:\nRegistration and participation for active duty service members voting by absentee ballot dropped between the 2012 and 2016 elections, with a third of those surveyed saying the absentee voting process was too complicated. The Military Voting Protection Act takes definitive steps to ensure all overseas military voters have the opportunity to cast their vote if they choose to do so.\nCurrently, military voting assistance officers distribute voter registration and absentee ballot requests or Federal Post Card Applications (FPCA), which allow them to register and request an absentee ballot, to military service members. Depending on the state, the federal write-in absentee ballot can serve as registration to vote as well as the actual ballot itself. Currently, 22 states and three territories require both the FPCA as well as an actual ballot. However, 28 states allow the federal write-in absentee ballot to serve as both the registration/request form and the ballot itself.\nUnder the MVP Act, a deployed service member will receive the following within 45 days of a general election for Federal office:\n A briefing on and an opportunity to fill out the FPCA for absentee voter registration application and ballot application prescribed under the Uniformed Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (as applicable); and\nA federal write-in absentee ballot prescribed pursuant to section 103 of that Act with instructions on the appropriate use of the ballot with respect to the state in which they are registered to vote.\n The MVP Act was included in the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020 (NDAA FY20), which passed the Senate on December 17, 2019. A more comprehensive summary of NDAA FY20 can be found here.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.cornyn.senate.gov/content/news/cornyn%E2%80%99s-dogs-courthouse-bill-passes-senate", "Cornyn\u2019s Dogs in the Courthouse Bill Passes the Senate", "2019-12-20", "2019", "2019-12", "Republican", "House", "TX", "John Cornyn", "C001056", "www.cornyn.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Bill Gives Judges Authority to Allow Certified Facility Dogs to Comfort Witnesses in Courtrooms\n \nWASHINGTON U.S. Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) released the following statement after the Senate passed his Courthouse Dogs Act, which would clarify federal judges' authority to allow certified facility dogs in courtrooms during legal proceedings. This legislation is based on the successful efforts of many states around the nation and guidance from experts in the field.\nTestifying in court can be a stressful experience for many, and especially children who may be asked to recall traumatic memories, said Sen. Cornyn. By allowing trained dogs to sit with witnesses, we can ease stress, help witnesses feel safe to share their stories, and ultimately promote justice.\nEarlier this year, Sen. Cornyn visited the South Texas College of Law in Houston with certified facility dogs and handlers from various District Attorneys' offices, representatives from victim support groups, and local special court judges to discuss the benefits of this bill. Click here to watch the video or here to download photos.  \nBackground on the Courthouse Dogs Act:\nWhen vulnerable witnesses testify, they often experience emotional trauma that impairs their ability to participate, think, or answer questions. The use of certified courthouse dogs in the courtroom has expanded rapidly in the United States as a mechanism for calming and supporting individuals involved in courtroom proceedings. The scientific evidence for the physical and mental calming effects of appropriately bred and trained dogs is overwhelming. Currently, eight states have legislation allowing for the use of certified facility dogs to assist witnesses giving testimony, and eight other states' courts have determined that the use of certified facility dogs may be appropriate in certain instances.\nThe Courthouse Dogs Act allows for any party in a federal criminal proceeding to request an order authorizing an available certified courthouse dog to accompany a witness while testifying in federal court.\nIn order to be certified facility dogs, they must meet the following requirements:\n The dog must have graduated from an assistance dog organization that is a member of an internationally recognized assistance dog association whose primary purpose is based on excellence in the areas of dog acquisition, training, and placement.\nThe dog must be accompanied by a trainer who is trained to manage the dog and has knowledge about the legal and criminal justice processes.\n Judges may grant the request and enter an order. If the dog is certified, he or she will aid the witness in providing testimony, and the dog is insured for liability protection.\nThe Courthouse Dogs Act is supported by the Courthouse Dogs Foundation, the National District Attorneys Association, and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.cornyn.senate.gov/content/news/cornyn-highlights-year-accomplishments-texans", "Cornyn Highlights Year of Accomplishments for Texans", "2019-12-20", "2019", "2019-12", "Republican", "House", "TX", "John Cornyn", "C001056", "www.cornyn.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "SENATOR JOHN CORNYN (R-TX): While I know the news is dominated by the impeachment controversy, Congress has been able to, under the radar screen, tick some important legislation off our to-do list this year on behalf of Texans.\nThis year, Senator Cornyn had four bills signed into law or currently awaiting the President's signature: the Debbie Smith Act, the HAVEN Act, the Military Voting Protection Act, and the Veteran STEM Scholarship Improvement Act.  \nAccomplishments During 2019\n HURRICANE HARVEY RELIEF: Led the fight for the Trump Administration to release $4 billion in Harvey relief for Texans that was caught up in red tape.\nDEBBIE SMITH ACT: Worked to get the Debbie Smith Act, which includes funding to fight the nationwide rape kit backlog, to the President's desk after political foot-dragging by House Democrats.\nSTRENGTHENING NADBANK: Worked to include a provision to strengthen the North American Development Bank in the proposed USMCA trade deal.\nBORDER COMMUNITY REIMBURSEMENTS: Helped secure $30 million in reimbursements made available for Texas border communities that provided care during the influx of migrants this past summer.\nHAVEN ACT: Passed his HAVEN Act into law, which will protect the economic security and well-being of veterans and their families who rely on disability benefits and may be experiencing financial hardship.\nMILITARY VOTING: Passed the Military Voting Protection Act, which will be signed into law as part of the Defense Authorization bill and ensures service members are provided with the means and information necessary to vote in their registered state while deployed or stationed overseas.\nSTEM EDUCATION FOR VETERANS: Passed the Veteran STEM Scholarship Improvement Act, into law, which will help veterans to take full advantage of the GI scholarship provided to study science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields.\nJUDICIAL CONFIRMATIONS: Helped to fill 20 Texas judicial vacancies since the start of this Administration, with more than 170 federal judges confirmed nationwide.\nBORDER FUNDING: Fought for $4.6 billion in funding to support the Homeland Security's efforts to secure our southern border.\nDEFENSE FUNDING: Enacted (once signed) the largest pay raise for U.S. servicemembers in a decade through the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which also included $400 million for military construction projects in Texas.\nIRS REFORM: Passed the Taxpayer First Act, now law, which contained the most significant reforms to the IRS in 20 years.\nSMALL BUSINESS DISASTER LEGISLATION: Passed the Rebuilding Small Businesses After Disasters Act, now law, which extends provisions to help homeowners and small businesses access certain U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) loans.\nAUTISM RESEARCH: Passed the main source of federal funding for autism research, the Autism CARES Act, which is now law. \nRELIEF FOR FARMERS: Passed the Family Farmer Relief Act, now law, to help family farmers reorganize their debt during tough economic times. Helped secure $400 million in relief for farmers and ranchers affected by drought in 157 Texas counties.\nELECTION SECURITY: Enacted bills with unanimous support ensuring hacking a voting system is a federal crime and deporting and denying entry to foreign nationals who have violated U.S. election law.\nSUPPORTING LAW ENFORCEMENT: Passed legislation that will help law enforcement officers in crisis and their families and legislation to provide grants for state and local law enforcement to purchase bulletproof vests.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://burgess.house.gov/blog/?postid=402255", "Burgess Votes to Approve USMCA Trade Agreement", "2019-12-19", "2019", "2019-12", "Republican", "House", "TX", "Michael Burgess", "B001248", "burgess.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Washington, D.C.  Congressman Michael C. Burgess, M.D. (R-TX), Republican Leader of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health released the following statement after the House of Representatives passed the United States Mexico and Canada Trade Agreement (USMCA).\r\nAfter years of asking for a rewrite of NAFTA, the House of Representatives has finally delivered a vote of approval for a new trade agreement, Burgess said. Thank you to President Trump for delivering on the promise to provide a better deal for farmers, manufacturers, and all Americans.\r\nI appreciate Republican Leader of the Ways and Means Committee and fellow Texan Kevin Brady for his leadership in getting this passed. Mexico is Texas' biggest trading partner. The USMCA increases opportunities for all Texans and keeps our economy strong.\r\n\r\nThe passage of USMCA is a win for the American economy because it will: \r\n\r\n    Brings an estimated 176,000 new jobs.\r\n    Increases the GDP by one percent.\r\n    Creates a level playing field for manufactures.\r\n    Expands fair trade for American Farmers.\r\n    Modernizes the NAFTA for the 21st Century.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://cuellar.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=404960", "Rep. Cuellar Votes on Historic Trade Agreement", "2019-12-19", "2019", "2019-12", "Democrat", "House", "TX", "Henry Cuellar", "C001063", "cuellar.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Washington, D.C.Today, Congressman Henry Cuellar (TX-28) voted to pass the United States- Mexico- Canada Agreement (USMCA) in the U.S. House of Representatives. This trade agreement is projected to raise GDP by nearly $70 billion and create upwards of 200,000 American jobs.\r\nOver the past year, I have been working with both Democrats and Republicans to create a trade agreement that benefits our workers, businesses, consumers, and the economy as a whole. This is the day we have all been working towards. Today, we have voted and passed the USMCA, a historic victory for my district, for the state of Texas, and for our country as a whole.\r\nThis agreement will increase market access for U.S. farmers, strengthen intellectual property rights, provide strong labor and environment obligations, and create thousands of American jobs. Furthermore, I secured key environmental provisions in the agreement, including $250 million for the North American Development Bank (NADB) as well as $300 million to fund Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) grants under the Border Water Infrastructure Program. These investments will enhance our ability to fund environmental infrastructure projects along the U.S.-Mexico border.\r\nI urge my colleagues in the Senate to pass this agreement as soon as possible so our economy can immediately start benefiting from the billions of dollars in new trading opportunities. This trade agreement will position more Americans to competeand winin today's global economy.\r\nI would like to thank Speaker Pelosi, Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal, Ambassador Robert Lighthizer, and their staff for their hard work on this trade agreement. I also want to thank Mexico's Foreign Secretary Marcelo Luis Ebrard, Deputy Foreign Minister Jesus Seade, Ambassador Martha Brcena, Senator Ricardo Monreal, and House Majority Leader Mario Delgado as well as Canada's Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland for working with us to create an agreement that will be beneficial for all three countries.\r\n\r\n# # #", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://flores.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=401258", "Bill Flores Statement on USMCA Passage", "2019-12-19", "2019", "2019-12", "Republican", "House", "TX", "Bill Flores", "F000461", "flores.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "U.S. Representative Bill Flores (R-Texas) issued the following statement following House passage of H.R. 5430, the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement Implementation Act: \"Today's vote to approve the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) is a big win for America's farmers, ranchers, workers, manufacturers and businesses. After more than a year of advocating for this important trade deal, we are finally one-step closer to modernizing and rebalancing trade relationships with our most important export markets  Mexico and Canada. The USMCA will expand agricultural trade, increase American manufacturing and protect intellectual property. It will lead to freer markets, fairer trade and robust economic growth in North America. As the major hub of North American economic activity, Texas stands to greatly benefit from this strengthened agreement as we move into a diverse 21st century economy. It is shameful that America  had to wait so long for Nancy Pelosi to finally prioritize progress over politics. I urge the Senate to swiftly pass the USMCA so that it can be signed by President Trump.\"\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://flores.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=401260", "Bill Flores Discusses the Latest from Washington", "2019-12-19", "2019", "2019-12", "Republican", "House", "TX", "Bill Flores", "F000461", "flores.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "NDAA\r\n\"Our nation's military works relentlessly to defend and protect America. The National Defense Authorization Act provides our military men and women with the essential resources they need to keep America safe. The House passed this bipartisan bill to increase funding to rebuild our military, make critical investments in defense systems, give our troops the largest pay raise in a decade and put an end to the unjust Widow's Tax' on survivor benefits. Strengthening our military and defense will support our continued work to combat emerging threats and provide for the safety and security of hardworking American families.\"Federal Government Funding\r\n\"This week, Congress considered two legislative packages to fully fund the federal government for the remainder of Fiscal Year 2020. These packages a national security-oriented package and a non-defense/domestic oriented package. The defense related package prioritizes national security, continues to strengthen our military and provides new funding for border security. I supported the defense package, however, I voted against the non-defense package because of its excessive spending levels and deficit impact. Going forward it is imperative that Congress commit to putting our nation's budget on a path to balance by addressing the long-term drivers of the nation's deficits  unsustainable and ever-increasing levels of mandatory spending.\" H.R. 3\r\n\"Last week, Nancy Pelosi continued to push her hyper-partisan agenda as the House considered a socialist bill that implements price-controls in the prescription drug industry. Make no mistake, this bill will crush drug innovation, lead to fewer lifesaving cures and will drive jobs and investment overseas. Rather than working to find bipartisan solutions to address prescription drug costs, Speaker Pelosi is working to appease the most extreme socialist members of her party and radical special interest groups. \"According to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and the Council of Economic Advisers (CEA), this bill will dramatically decrease the number of new lifesaving cures. Families who have relatives with tragic diseases like Alzheimer's and ALS should fear this legislation because it will drastically reduce investment in innovation and breakthrough cures for society's toughest illnesses.\" \"While I did not support H.R.3, I supported a substitute amendment that would have replaced it with the Lower Costs, More Cures Act. This alternative contained over 40 provisions that Democrats and President Trump support. By promoting increased competition and strengthening transparency, these solutions would lower the cost of prescription drugs while protecting innovation and access to medicines and cures. Even though the provisions of the Lower Costs, More Cures Act have broad bipartisan support, Democrats voted against this solution in favor of their socialist plan which will neither advance in the Senate nor be signed by the president. It is time for Nancy Pelosi to stop her political posturing and work in a bipartisan manner to address high prescription drug costs.\" Closing Thoughts\r\n\"The three-week period that the House of Representatives was in session in December produced mixed results for hardworking Texas families. On one hand, we began to see the emergence of a few bipartisan legislative accomplishments including passage of the NDAA, funding the federal government for the rest of Fiscal Year 2020, passage of robocall prevention legislation, and, most importantly, passage of the USMCA trade agreement. Regarding the government funding bills, they included substantial military funding as discussed above, funding for additional border security barrier and increased funding for important basic research like that performed at our local higher educational institutions  Texas A&M University, Baylor University and the University of Texas at Austin. Additionally, these funding bills also included important pro-life protections, despite strong efforts by Democrats to remove them.  \"On the other hand, these positive legislative outcomes were largely overshadowed by the House Democrats' campaign to remove Donald Trump, our lawfully elected president, using the weakest articles of impeachment and the shabbiest, unfair process in our nation's history. This activity will likely go down as one of the darkest stains on the history of the House of Representatives.  \"One of the interesting questions that folks ask is  why did it take so long for the House to start working on bipartisan legislation this year? In order to answer that question, we must first discuss the House's performance prior to December. During the first 11 months of this year, virtually every meaningful piece of legislation passed by the House was hyper-partisan and focused on appeasing the hard-Left, socialist elements of the Democrat base. This hard-left legislation included the first partisan NDAA in 58 years, partisan prescription drug bills, partisan efforts to takeover state and local election processes, and partisan appropriations bills. In contrast, the last Congress (the 115th) during 2017 and 2018 produced 443 bills which were sent to President Trump's desk for his signature. Of those bills, 99 percent were bipartisan even though Republicans controlled the House, Senate and White House.  \"So, why did the House finally start working on bipartisan solutions in December? It was because of you, the American people  you were letting the Democrats know through ongoing national and regional polling that you were losing patience with the impeachment circus, and that you were tired of a do nothing' House that was failing to focus on your real-world issues at home. This polling set off alarm bells with Democrat leadership and they finally started working with Republicans to bring the USMCA to the floor and to produce bipartisan solutions. They then put that bipartisan legislation up for votes over the past two weeks to try to offset the damage from their impeachment sham that was showing up in polling. \"Looking forward, as the First Session (2019) of the 116th Congress ends, and the Second Session (2020) begins in early January, the question is, what will the House do now? Will it produce bipartisan results like the 115th Congress (2017 and 2018)? Or, will it produce only partisan results similar to JanuaryNovember of this year, that will go nowhere in the Senate nor be signed by the President? I pray that we pursue the bipartisan path to produce real-world solutions for you, your families and our communities.  \"As we close out 2019, I hope that each of you have a Blessed Christmas and holiday season, and that God will continue to Bless our nation.\"", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://www.cruz.senate.gov?p=press_release&id=4831", "Sen. Cruz on Democrats' Collapsing Impeachment Narrative: Speaker Pelosi Knows the House Hasn't Proven Its Case", "2019-12-19", "2019", "2019-12", "Republican", "House", "TX", "Ted Cruz", "C001098", "www.cruz.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on The Constitution, this morning appeared on Fox News' Fox & Friends' following House Democrats' late-night partisan impeachment vote against President Trump.\nSen. Cruz said:\n\"The Democrats are in a panic because in the last month their case collapsed. Rewind back to a month ago. A month ago every Democrat was saying over and over again, bribery.' Remember that was their talking point? Bribery, bribery, bribery.' The reason was the Democratic Campaign Committee, they polled that and their focus groups had told them that bribery is bad. The American people don't like bribery. So in one day, every Democrat began saying bribery.\"\nSen. Cruz continued, noting House Democrats have taken the extreme' position that they can impeach the president without alleging he committed a crime:\n\"Here's the problem: the facts, the actual evidence doesn't support bribery. As they heard the evidence, they couldn't prove bribery. And they've now backed away from bribery, they've backed away - remember quid pro quo? That was their favorite phrase. That's disappeared. And they've now taken the position they can impeach the president without alleging he violated any criminal law whatsoever, without alleging he violated any federal law. Literally - not even alleging a speeding ticket. That is a remarkable position, it's an extreme position.\"\nFinally, Sen. Cruz said the House Democrats failed to prove their case, which is why Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is considering holding the Articles of Impeachment:\n\"This has never happened in the history of the country. The prior impeachments, every one of them, the articles alleged a federal crime. This one doesn't. It is exceptionally weak and it doesn't meet the constitutional standard for high crimes and misdemeanors. And that's why Pelosi knows when it goes to the Senate, there's going to be a fair trial in the Senate but this is not going to succeed because the House hasn't proven its case.\"\nWatch Sen. Cruz's full interview here.\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://www.cruz.senate.gov?p=press_release&id=4832", "On Sino-British Joint Declaration Anniversary, Sens. Cruz, Hawley, Colleagues Send Bipartisan Letter Urging U.N. to Raise Issue of China's Human Rights Violations", "2019-12-19", "2019", "2019-12", "Republican", "House", "TX", "Ted Cruz", "C001098", "www.cruz.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON, D.C. - On the 35th anniversary of the signing of the Sino-British Joint Declaration, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) today sent a letter to United Nations Secretary-General Antnio Guterres. In the letter, the members urge him to raise the issue of China's violations of human rights and its destruction of its documentary record in his discussions with member states and at the U.N. Human Rights Council and the U.N. Security Council. Sens. John Cornyn (R-Texas), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Rick Scott (R-Fla.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) and Todd Young (R-Ind.) also signed onto the letter.\nThe letter comes on the anniversary of the Dec. 19, 1984 signing of the Sino-British Joint Declaration -- a bilateral agreement that was registered at the U.N. which defined the terms of the \"one country, two systems\" principle that would protect Hong Kong's autonomy as it transferred from British to Chinese authority.\nIn the letter, the senators write: \"China's actions in Hong Kong are consistent with its actions in other parts of the region and its treatment of those within its borders who may hold different beliefs from those of the Communist Party of China. Its detention camps in Xinjiang holding nearly a million Uyghur Muslims reflect China's true ambitions.\"   They continue: \"We the undersigned urge you to work with both member states and with the U.N. Human Rights Council and the U.N. Security Council to take meaningful steps to condemn China's operation of its detention camps in Xinjiang and to protect the documentary record of what is taking place in Xinjiang. Your actions on this matter will be a testament to the United Nations' important mandate of protecting human rights wherever they are threatened.\"   Read the full letter here.\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://www.cruz.senate.gov?p=press_release&id=4833", "Sens. Cruz, Cornyn Urge Trump Administration to Prioritize Bringing CITGO 6 Home", "2019-12-19", "2019", "2019-12", "Republican", "House", "TX", "Ted Cruz", "C001098", "www.cruz.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) John Cornyn (Texas) today sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to urge the State Department to do everything it can to ensure the safe homecoming of the six CITGO employees currently being detained in Venezuela.\nThey wrote:\n\"As the administration continues to successfully craft policy and solutions, we write to express our steadfast commitment to securing the release of Gustavo Cardenas, Jose Angel Pereira, Jorge Toledo, Tomeu Vadell, Alirio Zambrano, and Jose Luis Zambrano, otherwise known as the CITGO 6, from their unjust detainment in Venezuela.\n\"We realize there are competing equities at play in Venezuela and we strongly support the Administration's commitment to securing free and fair elections in Venezuela; however, it must be made clear to all stakeholders that American citizens must be released and not made political pawns by anyone or any group.  Therefore, we urge the Administration to use every tool at its disposal to help these Americans.\"\nSens. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), John Kennedy (R-La.), and Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) also signed the letter.  You can view the signed letter here, and text is below.\nDecember 19, 2019\nThe Honorable Michael R. Pompeo  Secretary of State  U.S. Department of State  2201 C Street N.W.  Washington, D.C. 20320\nDear Secretary Pompeo,\nWe write to express our support for ongoing efforts to secure the release of Americans held hostage or unlawfully detained in many rogue nations such as Iran, Venezuela, Cuba, Syria and others. As the administration continues to successfully craft policy and solutions, we write to express our steadfast commitment to securing the release of Gustavo Cardenas, Jose Angel Pereira, Jorge Toledo, Tomeu Vadell, Alirio Zambrano, and Jose Luis Zambrano, otherwise known as the CITGO 6, from their unjust detainment in Venezuela.\nAs you know, the CITGO 6 have suffered from over two years of inhumane detainment conditions and lack of due process. They have experienced significant health hardships as a direct result of their treatment by the oppressive Maduro regime and others who support them.  Imprisoned in an overcrowded basement for two years with limited access to sufficient nutrition, exercise, or medical treatment, the men are reported to have suffered severe weight loss and significant physical pain. Although their recent transfer to house arrest is a promising development, we believe it is crucial the Administration maintain maximum economic and diplomatic pressure in order to secure their full release and return.\nWe realize there are competing equities at play in Venezuela and we strongly support the Administration's commitment to securing free and fair elections in Venezuela; however, it must be made clear to all stakeholders that American citizens must be released and not made political pawns by anyone or any group.  Therefore, we urge the Administration to use every tool at its disposal to help these Americans.   American national interests and citizens must come first. We will continue to support efforts to maintain diplomatic and economic pressure on the illegitimate Maduro regime in Venezuela and secure the release of the CITGO 6.\nSincerely,\n/s/\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://www.cruz.senate.gov?p=press_release&id=4834", "Sen. Cruz: End-of-Year, $1.4 Trillion Spending Monstrosity Is Lobbyists' Christmas Present", "2019-12-19", "2019", "2019-12", "Republican", "House", "TX", "Ted Cruz", "C001098", "www.cruz.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) issued the following statement after voting against the $1.4 trillion end-of-year spending package:\n\"With a $23 trillion national debt, this 2,313-page spending package that Congressional leaders unveiled just days ago represents everything Americans hate about Washington. Though there are several good provisions included in the final bills that I was proud to fight for, including a well-deserved pay raise for our men and women in uniform and additional support for our Armed Forces and veterans, this $1.4 trillion spending monstrosity plunges our nation even further into debt - haphazardly spending taxpayer dollars on the priorities of lobbyists and Democrats at the expense of the priorities of the American people, from funding Planned Parenthood, sanctuary cities, and Obamacare, to raising the tobacco purchasing age to 21.\n\"This ridiculous, rushed, end-of-year spending process, year after year, is an example of government of the lobbyists, by the lobbyists, and for the lobbyists. Instead of funding liberal Democrat's priorities and running up bills we cannot pay, we should be fighting for the common-sense priorities of the American people, like providing families with more education opportunities and freedom, securing our border, and reducing the burden of federal taxes and regulations on workers, families, and local job creators. These are the priorities I will continue to fight for in the Senate.\"\nAs Sen. Cruz explained, the spending package includes:\n\tAn extension of the Ex-Im Bank, corporate welfare that Sen. Cruz has long worked to end.  \tA provision to raise the tobacco purchasing age to 21, which means our 18-year-old men and women in uniform can be sent to the front lines, but they cannot have a smoke.  \tExtensions of corporate subsidies for renewable energy by extending tax credits for biodiesel, wind, and solar.  \tFunding for the Center of Disease Control and the National Institutes of Health to conduct studies and research on gun control, which threatens the constitutional rights of law-abiding citizens.\nMeanwhile, the package fails to:\n\tDefund Planned Parenthood, a common-sense conservative priority Sen. Cruz has championed.  \tEnd Obamacare, which Sen. Cruz has long fought to achieve.  \tExpand College 529 Savings Plans and education freedom, which would help families cover the costs of educational expenses for their children.  \tStop sanctuary cities and enforce our immigration laws.  \tFully fund the wall, which is critical to securing the border and ensuring the safety of communities in Texas and across the country.\nWatch Sen. Cruz's video describing the problems with the bill here.\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://www.cruz.senate.gov?p=video&id=4830", "Sen. Cruz on Fox & Friends: DEMOLISHES Democrats' Biased Impeachment Against President Trump", "2019-12-19", "2019", "2019-12", "Republican", "House", "TX", "Ted Cruz", "C001098", "www.cruz.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Central TX \n\t\t\t\t\t(512) 916-5834  300 E 8th  Suite 961  Austin, TX 78701  Email\n\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t North TX \n\t\t\t\t\t(214) 599-8749  Lee Park Tower II  3626 N. Hall St.  Suite 410  Dallas, TX 75219  Email\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t Southeast TX \n\t\t\t\t\t(713) 718-3057  The Mickey Leland Federal Building  1919 Smith Street  Suite 9047  Houston, TX 77002\nEmail\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t South/Cen. TX \n\t\t\t\t\t(210) 340-2885  9901 IH-10W  Suite 950  San Antonio, TX 78230  Email\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t East TX \n\t\t\t\t\t(903) 593-5130305 S. Broadway  Suite 501  Tyler, TX 75702  Email\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t South TX \n\t\t\t\t\t(956) 686-7339   200 S. 10th St   Suite 1603   McAllen, TX 78501   Email\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t Washington, D.C. \n\t\t\t\t\t(202) 224-5922  127A Russell  Washington, DC 20510  Contact", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://allred.house.gov/media/press-releases/allred-votes-pass-historic-us-mexico-and-canada-trade-agreement", "Allred Votes to Pass Historic US, Mexico and Canada Trade Agreement", "2019-12-19", "2019", "2019-12", "Democrat", "House", "TX", "Colin Allred", "A000376", "allred.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Washington, D.C.  Congressman Colin Allred (TX-32), today voted to pass the revised version of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). The agreement passed the House with broad bipartisan support.\nTrade is critically important to our great state, and after months of hard work, I am proud to have voted today to move forward on this historic, job-creating trade agreement between the U.S., Mexico and Canada, said Allred. I tirelessly worked to urge leaders in both parties to move forward on this agreement because of its importance to the Texas economy. I thank my colleagues for their hard work to improve this deal, and get it across the finish line. This will set a new standard for agreements moving forward and is a win for workers and businesses alike.\n\nAllred spoke on the House floor today urging passage of the USMCA.  \n\t\nAllred has been leading efforts to urge his colleagues in the trade working group and in House leadership to get something done this year, and repeatedly emphasized its importance to North Texas. In July, Allred led a group of his colleagues in writing a letter with Congressman Scott Peters (CA-52) to House leadership urging action to resolve outstanding issues and move forward on an agreement that benefits the United States.\nThe bill is supported by a strong coalition of labor and business groups like the AFL-CIO, Business Roundtable, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and many others.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://arrington.house.gov/2019/12/arrington-statement-on-usmca-passage-in-u-s-house-of-representatives/", "Arrington Statement on USMCA Passage in U.S. House of Representatives", "2019-12-19", "2019", "2019-12", "Republican", "House", "TX", "Jodey Arrington", "A000375", "arrington.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Arrington Statement on USMCA Passage in U.S. House of Representatives \n\t\t\t\t\tDecember 19, 2019\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tWASHINGTON Today, Congressman Jodey Arrington (TX-19) issued the following statement as the U.S. House of Representatives voted in favor of ratifying the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) to modernize free trade in North America:\nI want to thank the ranking member, my dear friend Kevin Brady for his leadership on this very important trade deal that strengthens our largest and most important relationship of all of our trading relationships. I also want to thank our chairman, Richard Neal, for keeping this deal on track and keeping people in the game so we could have a bipartisan deal, as the only way that this was going to work if we had a bipartisan consensus, said Arrington.\nBut let's give credit where credit is due for the one who led the charge, who did the heavy lifting  our President Donald J. Trump. In 2016, he was already calling out some of these trade deals as a rip off on American workers and manufacturers. While we saw a 400% increase in trade for agriculture products since the inception of NAFTA, it hasn't been good all the way around, it hasn't been fair all the way around, and it hasn't been productive in terms of keeping jobs here in the United States. I applaud our president for his dogged commitment to American first trade policies  that doesn't mean America only, it means that we negotiate from strength and we negotiate for the best interest of American workers, manufacturers, and farmers.\nThat's what the USMCA does  $70 billion in economic growth, 170,000 jobs and billions in investment in the auto manufacturing sector. Our agriculture producers, dairy producers, and farmers are going to have open access to new customers in Canada.\nThis is a huge win for America, and I want to join all my colleagues, Republican and Democrat, and champion this deal all the way through. I applaud my colleagues on both sides of the aisle for voting yes on the USMCA and voting for an even greater America and an even greater prospect for American prosperity.\nWATCH CONGRESSMAN ARRINGTON'S FULL REMARKS ON THE HOUSE FLOOR:", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://arrington.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=68", "Arrington Statement on USMCA Passage in U.S. House of Representatives", "2019-12-19", "2019", "2019-12", "Republican", "House", "TX", "Jodey C. Arrington", "A000375", "arrington.house.gov", "arrington", "https://arrington.house.gov/news/documentquery.aspx?DocumentTypeID=27", "scraper", "Today, Congressman Jodey Arrington (TX-19) issued the following statement as the U.S. House of Representatives voted in favor of ratifying the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) to modernize free trade in North America: \u201cI want to thank the ranking member, my dear friend Kevin Brady for his leadership on this very important trade deal that strengthens our largest and most important relationship of all of our trading relationships. I also want to thank our chairman, Richard Neal, for keeping this deal on track and keeping people in the game so we could have a bipartisan deal, as the only way that this was going to work if we had a bipartisan consensus,\u201d said Arrington. \u201cBut let's give credit where credit is due for the one who led the charge, who did the heavy lifting \u2013 our President Donald J. Trump. In 2016, he was already calling out some of these trade deals as a rip off on American workers and manufacturers. While we saw a 400% increase in trade for agriculture products since the inception of NAFTA, it hasn't been good all the way around, it hasn't been fair all the way around, and it hasn't been productive in terms of keeping jobs here in the United States. I applaud our president for his dogged commitment to American first trade policies \u2013 that doesn\u2019t mean America only, it means that we negotiate from strength and we negotiate for the best interest of American workers, manufacturers, and farmers.\u201d \u201cThat's what the USMCA does \u2013 $70 billion in economic growth, 170,000 jobs and billions in investment in the auto manufacturing sector. Our agriculture producers, dairy producers, and farmers are going to have open access to new customers in Canada.\u201d \u201cThis is a huge win for America, and I want to join all my colleagues, Republican and Democrat, and champion this deal all the way through. I applaud my colleagues on both sides of the aisle for voting yes on the USMCA and voting for an even greater America and an even greater prospect for American prosperity.\u201d WATCH CONGRESSMAN ARRINGTON\u2019S FULL REMARKS ON THE HOUSE FLOOR:", 1, "2026-04-07T12:09:11Z", "2026-06-27T23:45:33Z"], ["https://babin.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=5353", "U.S. Rep. Babin Hosts Lucas Lowe Memorial Post Office Dedication", "2019-12-19", "2019", "2019-12", "Republican", "House", "TX", "Brian Babin", "B001291", "babin.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "DAYTON, TX On Monday, December 16, U.S. Congressman Brian Babin (TX-36) along with the United States Postal Service hosted countless community and family members, local dignitaries, and top military officials for a ceremony renaming the Post Office in Hardin, Texas after a local hero, Chief Warrant Officer II Lucas Maurice Lowe. Chief Lowe, a decorated veteran with tours of duty in both Iraq and Afghanistan, tragically passed away on December 28, 2016, during a flight with the Texas Army National Guard.\r\nThe event began with a flyover by two AH-64 Apache attack helicopters piloted by members of Chief Lowe's unit, the 1st-149thAttack and Reconnaissance Battalion, a fitting tribute for a man who achieved his dream of flying as an Army pilot. Congressman Babin, author of the bill (H.R. 1250) which designates the postal facility as the Lucas Lowe Memorial Post Office, addressed the crowd and presented Lucas' widow, Kami, with an official copy of the bill signed into law by President Donald Trump on August 23, 2019.\r\nWe gathered together just a few days short of the third anniversary of Lucas' passing,said Rep. Babin. He died in the service of the Texas Army National Guard, and looking around me on Monday, it was evident how much of an impression he made upon his family, community, and brothers and sisters in uniform. I consider it a distinct privilege to have been able to honor a man like Lucas Lowe, who was as much an irreplaceable part of Southeast Texas as that very post office.\r\nState Representative Ernest Bailes, County Judge Jay Knight, Hardin Mayor Harry Johnson, and Samantha Pickett (Lucas' aunt) each made special presentations to the family. Adjutant General for the State of Texas, Major General Tracy Norris, discussed her admiration for Chief Lowe's military service as a model soldier and great patriot and presented Mrs. Lowe with his awards from the Army and Texas National Guard.\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://carter.house.gov/index.cfm?sectionid=40&itemid=2446", "Carter on Passage of USMCA", "2019-12-19", "2019", "2019-12", "Republican", "House", "TX", "John Carter", "C001051", "carter.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "(Washington, D.C.) Representative John Carter (TX-31) released the following statement after voting in favor of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).\r\n\r\n\tAfter more than a year of delay by Speaker Pelosi, the House of Representatives has finally passed the USMCA with overwhelming support. While this agreement will significantly benefit the United States, Texas is positioned to be one of the USMCA's biggest winners thanks to its annual export of $140 billion in goods to Mexico and Canada. With nearly 60 percent of all jobs in my district reliant on trade with our North American partners, the USMCA's passage is a clear victory for Texas' 31st District.\r\n\r\n\tNationally, trade with Mexico and Canada supports 12 million American jobs, so having a free and fair trade agreement is crucial to the health of the U.S. economy. Along with the added $68 billion in new economic activity, the USMCA will be responsible for the creation of 176,000 U.S. jobs.\r\n\r\n\tThe USMCA will serve as the model for all future U.S. trade agreements, and is an example of how Congress should work with the Administration to create prosperity for Americans.\r\n\r\n\tThe USMCA is set to modernize the 25-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) to better serve the interests of American workers and our economy. The agreement will deliver key economic wins in the auto manufacturing, agricultural and digital commerce industry, which are crucial to Texas' economy.\r\n\r\n\t# # #\r\n\r\n\tRep. Carter represents Texas District 31, which includes Fort Hood, the largest active duty armored military installation in the free world. He serves as the Rank Member of the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Subcommittee and the Vice Ranking Member of the Defense Subcommittee on Appropriations. Rep. Carter is the co-chairman of the Congressional Army Caucus.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://carter.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=1457", "Carter Statement on Impeachment of President Donald Trump", "2019-12-19", "2019", "2019-12", "Republican", "House", "TX", "John R. Carter", "C001051", "carter.house.gov", "carter", "https://carter.house.gov/news/documentquery.aspx?DocumentTypeID=27", "scraper", "Representative John Carter (TX-31) released the following statement after voting against both of the Democrats\u2019 articles of impeachment.\n\n\u201cIt is a fundamental ideal of our republic that every American receives justice under the law. As Members of Congress, we are required to uphold that ideal and as a former judge, I was tasked with the same responsibility. I find that this entire impeachment process has lacked impartiality, respect for the Constitution and justice. When I was on the bench, I instructed every jury the same way. I told them, \u201cwhat someone heard from another source other than what they directly observed is not evidence.\u201d The evidence presented by the House Majority in this case was hearsay. In fact, the most substantial direct evidence is the transcript of the President\u2019s telephone call, which did not prove an impeachable offense.\n\n\u201cWhile the Democrats try to rewrite their history, the truth is that the impeachment of President Trump began the day he was inaugurated. In fact, 17 of the 24 Democratic members on the House Judiciary Committee voted to impeach President Trump well before the phone call with the Ukraine President even occurred. The last month of impeachment hearings have been political theatre designed to present hearsay and rumors as facts. Make no mistake, today\u2019s vote isn\u2019t about justice, or upholding the rule of law, this is politics.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:45:33Z"], ["https://carter.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=1458", "Carter on Passage of USMCA", "2019-12-19", "2019", "2019-12", "Republican", "House", "TX", "John R. Carter", "C001051", "carter.house.gov", "carter", "https://carter.house.gov/news/documentquery.aspx?DocumentTypeID=27", "scraper", "Representative John Carter (TX-31) released the following statement after voting in favor of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).\n\n\u201cAfter more than a year of delay by Speaker Pelosi, the House of Representatives has finally passed the USMCA with overwhelming support. While this agreement will significantly benefit the United States, Texas is positioned to be one of the USMCA\u2019s biggest winners thanks to its annual export of $140 billion in goods to Mexico and Canada. With nearly 60 percent of all jobs in my district reliant on trade with our North American partners, the USMCA\u2019s passage is a clear victory for Texas\u2019 31st District.\n\n\u201cNationally, trade with Mexico and Canada supports 12 million American jobs, so having a free and fair trade agreement is crucial to the health of the U.S. economy. Along with the added $68 billion in new economic activity, the USMCA will be responsible for the creation of 176,000 U.S. jobs.\n\n\u201cThe USMCA will serve as the model for all future U.S. trade agreements, and is an example of how Congress should work with the Administration to create prosperity for Americans.\u201d\n\nThe USMCA is set to modernize the 25-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) to better serve the interests of American workers and our economy. The agreement will deliver key economic wins in the auto manufacturing, agricultural and digital commerce industry, which are crucial to Texas\u2019 economy.\n\n# # #\n\nRep. Carter represents Texas District 31, which includes Fort Hood, the largest active duty armored military installation in the free world. He serves as the Rank Member of the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Subcommittee and the Vice Ranking Member of the Defense Subcommittee on Appropriations. Rep. Carter is the co-chairman of the Congressional Army Caucus.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:45:33Z"], ["https://castro.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/castro-fitzpatrick-statement-global-child-thrive-act-markup", "Castro, Fitzpatrick Statement on Global Child Thrive Act Markup", "2019-12-19", "2019", "2019-12", "Democrat", "House", "TX", "Joaqu\u00edn Castro", "C001091", "castro.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTONCongressman Joaquin Castro (TX-20), Chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, Vice Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and member of the House Intelligence and Education and Labor Committees, and Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick (PA-01), Co-Chair of the International Basic Education Caucus, Member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, and Commissioner of the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (Helsinki Commission), today released the following statement on the markup of their bipartisan, bicameral legislation, The Global Child Thrive Act:\nThe approval of this important legislation in the House Foreign Affairs Committee marks an important step forward. Our most cherished treasure, young children across the world deserve the opportunity for dignity and success. Despite progress we have made in reducing child mortality and improving quality of life for children across the world, serious challenges remain in ensuring children in developing countries are able to reach their potential. This legislation guarantees that when the U.S. invests abroad, kids and their families will not be forgotten, said Congressman Castro. Our bill directs relevant federal departments and agencies to incorporate early childhood development into their work and builds on existing interagency collaboration. There is no more cost-effective, worthwhile cause than early childhood development, and I applaud my HFAC colleagues for reinforcing our resolve.\nAs an FBI Agent, one of my greatest concerns has always been the welfare of children, not just children in the United States but children across the globe. I applaud my colleagues on the Foreign Affairs committee for marking up the Global Child Thrive Act today and passing it unanimously, said Congressman Fitzpatrick. I encourage House leadership to bring this legislation to the floor and pass it with the same urgency that we did in Committee. It is of the upmost importance that we help other countries help their children. As we all know, focusing on children is focusing on our future.\nBACKGROUND: The Assistance for Orphans and Other Vulnerable Children in Developing Countries Act of 2005 created the U.S. Government Special Advisor on Children in Adversity, who is tasked with coordinating all U.S. assistance to orphans and other vulnerable children among U.S. departments and agencies, among other responsibilities. The Global Child Thrive Act builds upon that foundation by strengthening the implementation of policies that advance early childhood development internationally.\nThe bill expands the number of agencies over which the Special Advisor has explicit authority to coordinate early childhood development policies. It also directs the U.S. Agency for International Development to engage relevant executive agencies to incorporate early childhood development into current programming over the next five years. To incorporate early childhood development into current programming, the agencies would:\n Build on the evidence and priorities outlined in Advancing Protection and Care for Children in Adversity: A U.S. Government Strategy for International Assistance 2019-2023;'\n\tIdentify evidence-based strategic priorities, indicators, outcomes, and targets to support inclusive early childhood development;\n\tSupport the design, implementation, and evaluation of pilot projects in partner countries, with the goal of taking them to scale;\n\tSupport bureaus, working groups, and task forces implementing relevant sector strategies and public laws, and;\n\tFocus on improving coordination with foreign governments and international and regional organizations with respect to official country policies and plans for early childhood development.\n \n# # #", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://doggett.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/big-win-san-antonio-statement-upcoming-house-passage-usmca", "Big Win for San Antonio: Statement on Upcoming House Passage of the USMCA", "2019-12-19", "2019", "2019-12", "Democrat", "House", "TX", "Lloyd Doggett", "D000399", "doggett.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "***Press Release*** \n\t\t\t\tFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE\n\t\t\t\tDecember 19, 2019\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tContact: Kate Stotesbery\n\t\t\t\t202-225-4865\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n Big Win for San Antonio: Statement on Upcoming House Passage of the USMCA \nWashington, D.C.  Today, U.S. Representative Lloyd Doggett (D-San Antonio), senior member of the Ways and Means Committee, released the following statement on this afternoon's upcoming House passage of the USMCA trade agreement. He also urged passage on the floorvideo of his speech here.\nA big win for Texasmore commerce, more North American Development Bank financing, reasonable protection for the environment and workersall of which helps to broaden public support for future trade agreements.\nThe harmful language inserted by Big Pharma to empower more prescription price gouging has been removed.Enforcement, rather than platitudes about working standards and the environment, represent important changes from the version which Trump originally proposed.\n###\nFollow Congressman Doggett\nFacebook:https://www.Facebook.com/RepLloydDoggett | Twitter: @RepLloydDoggett| Instagram: @RepLloydDoggett", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://doggett.house.gov/media/press-releases/big-win-san-antonio-statement-upcoming-house-passage-usmca", "Big Win for San Antonio: Statement on Upcoming House Passage of the USMCA", "2019-12-19", "2019", "2019-12", "Democrat", "House", "TX", "Lloyd Doggett", "D000399", "doggett.house.gov", "doggett", "https://doggett.house.gov/media/press-releases", "scraper", "Washington, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Representative Lloyd Doggett (D-San Antonio), senior member of the Ways and Means Committee, released the following statement on this afternoon's upcoming House passage of the USMCA trade agreement. He also urged passage on the floor\u2014video of his speech here.\n\n\"A big win for Texas\u2014more commerce, more North American Development Bank financing, reasonable protection for the environment and workers\u2014all of which helps to broaden public support for future trade agreements.\n\nThe harmful language inserted by Big Pharma to empower more prescription price gouging has been removed. Enforcement, rather than platitudes about working standards and the environment, represent important changes from the version which Trump originally proposed.\"\n\nFollow Congressman Doggett", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:45:33Z"], ["https://escobar.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=133", "Congresswoman Veronica Escobar Statement on House Passage of USMCA", "2019-12-19", "2019", "2019-12", "Democrat", "House", "TX", "Veronica Escobar", "E000299", "escobar.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Congresswoman Veronica Escobar Statement on House Passage of USMCA \r\n    \r\n     \r\n\r\n  \r\n  \r\n    \r\n      Washington, DC,\r\n      December 19, 2019\r\n    \r\n    \r\n    \r\n    \r\n  \r\n  \r\n\r\n  \r\n\r\n  \r\n    \r\n    \r\n      \r\n        As a representative of one of the largest manufacturing regions in North America, a vote for an updated NAFTA is a vote for the more than 23,000 El Pasoans dependent on a prosperous border economy.\r\n      \r\n    \r\n  \r\n  \r\n  \r\n\r\n  \r\n    \r\n      Today, Congresswoman Veronica Escobar (TX-16), member of the U.S.-Mexico Interparliamentary Group for the 116th Congress, issued the following statement after the House of Representatives voted on the United States-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement (USMCA):\r\rAs a representative of one of the largest manufacturing regions in North America, a vote for an updated NAFTA is a vote for the more than 23,000 El Pasoans dependent on a prosperous border economy.\r\rThe improvements advanced by House Democrats promote new standards we can build upon to reflect the 21st century economy, including stronger enforcement mechanisms, enhanced worker protections, improved access to affordable prescription drugs for families and seniors, and environmental protections.\r\rThis vote honors my promise to work to protect and expand our local economy without compromising our values.\r\r###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://escobar.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=164", "Congresswoman Veronica Escobar Statement on Vote to Impeach President Trump", "2019-12-19", "2019", "2019-12", "Democrat", "House", "TX", "Veronica Escobar", "E000299", "escobar.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Congresswoman Veronica Escobar (TX-16), member of the House Judiciary Committee, issued the following statement on her vote for H.Res. 755, Impeaching Donald John Trump, President of the United States, for high crimes and misdemeanors:\r\rIn moments of great tragedy, we've been able to count on Americans to come together to exhibit strength and unity, showing that we are one people, one country. Not Republicans, not Democrats, but Americans.\r\rToday, our country faces another tragedy and moment of truth. President Trump has abused his public office for personal political gain and invited foreign governments to interfere in our elections, putting the integrity of our democracy at risk, leaving the House of Representatives no choice but to act to protect our great nation.\r\rI do not take my oath of office lightly. That is why, with El Pasoans and our fragile democracy in my heart and mind, I stood with my fellow patriots to uphold my oath and defend the Constitution.\r\r###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://fletcher.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=2279", "Congresswoman Lizzie Fletcher Shares Her Thoughts With Constituents on Articles of Impeachment", "2019-12-19", "2019", "2019-12", "Democrat", "House", "TX", "Lizzie Fletcher", "F000468", "fletcher.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "(Washington, DC)  This morning, Congresswoman Lizzie Fletcher (TX-07), shared the following thoughts on last night's vote on the Articles of Impeachment with her constituents:\r\nI spent much of the day in the House chamber listening to my colleagues debate the Articles of Impeachment. The debate among my colleagues was not unlike the debate among our neighbors at home, many of whom I have heard from, urging me to vote both for and against the articles presented.\r\nAs your representative in Congress, it was important for me to be present for this historic debate. During debate, many of my colleagues spoke eloquently about the facts, the evidence, and the Constitution. Many of them reminded us of the oath we all swore to protect and defend the Constitution earlier this year:\r\nI do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion, and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God.\r\nIn evaluating the question before us, my colleagues drew on their own experiencesin our military, in our intelligence services, in law enforcement, in our government, and in places all across our country. And so did I.\r\nAs I have told many of you in town hall meetings and other events, I came to the questions as a lawyer, as a believer in the rule of law. In our Constitution, the judicial branch of our government is Article III. But the rule of law is everywhere. Our system of governmentour societydepends entirely on voluntary participation and compliance with the law.\r\nAs a democratic society, we, the people, make the laws. We write them in Congress and in statehouses across the country. We enforce them. We challenge them. We protest them. We change them. And we do so through our three co-equal branches of government and our elected representatives who serve the people.\r\nParticipation in the form of elections and engagement with elected officialsthrough advocacy of all kindsis critical to our society. As is enforcement of those lawscivil and criminal.\r\nI have spent more than a decade of my life working in the civil justice system. And I can tell you without hesitation that our entire system depends on voluntary compliance with the law. Parties, and also third parties, receive subpoenas for documents or witnesses to appear for deposition or trial and they are obligated to respond, to appear, to participate, whether they want to or not. Potential jurors who receive a jury summons must show up. Of course, we make objections and exceptions of all kinds, but through participation and engagement, not refusal and contempt. We have a social contract with one another that is memorialized in our Constitution and our laws, and we see it in action every day. That is our agreement with each other. And it is what President Trump has utterly failed to do.\r\nThroughout the day, many of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle suggested that the impeachment articles were really related to policy disagreements, political allegiance, and personal animosity. This is simply not the case.\r\nIt is true that I did not vote for President Trump in 2016. I do not agree with him on many issues of policy. I am not a member of his party. And I am deeply concerned with his divisive rhetoric. But that is not why I voted to impeach him yesterday.\r\nI voted in favor of the first Article of Impeachment because the President abused the power of his officeand our trustin conditioning actions in our national security interest on receiving a personal political benefit. In doing so, he threatened our national security, and undermined the very principles we have long demonstratedand symbolizedto the rest of the world.\r\nI voted in favor of the second Article of Impeachment because the President obstructed the Congressional inquiry into these actions, withholding documents and information, prohibiting witnesses from appearing, and undermining the checks and balances upon which our government rests. From my own experience, I see the destructive power of these actions not just on Congressional oversight, but on our legal system and our entire system of governance. It is central to our society that no individual, including and especially the President, is above the law.\r\nI appreciate the trust you have placed in me to be your voice in Washington and to represent our district at this important time in our history. I will continue to work on behalf of our district on the things that matter to us and our countryour health care, our economy, our safety, and the many issues shaping our shared future. And I will work with anyone who shares that belief in working together.\r\nOn that note, I will vote today to pass the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), a truly bipartisan effort that I have worked on with the Trump Administration and my colleagues on both sides of the aisle since arriving here in January. It is an example of what we can accomplish when we work together. It is what I am here to do on your behalf. And it is what, despite this challenging moment for our country, I still believe we can do. My vote yesterday was also an expression of that belief in our country, our Constitution, and our community, which I am so proud to represent.\r\nThe full email to her constituents is availablehere.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://fletcher.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=2280", "Congresswoman Lizzie Fletcher Votes in Favor of United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement", "2019-12-19", "2019", "2019-12", "Democrat", "House", "TX", "Lizzie Fletcher", "F000468", "fletcher.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "(Washington, DC)  Today, Congresswoman Lizzie Fletcher (TX-07) voted to advance the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). The USMCA makes critical improvements to the trade agreement between our countries, includes strong environmental standards, creates enforceable labor standards, and maintains Congress' authority to bring down the cost of pharmaceutical drugs.\r\nIn Houstonand Texas,trade with Mexico and Canada accounts for billions of dollars and millions ofjobs, saidCongresswoman Fletcher.As Co-Chair of the New Democrat Coalition Trade Task Force, which has been actively working to advance this agreement all year, I am glad to see the USMCA pass the House. I hope the Senate will join us in passing this historic agreement.\r\nThe USMCA modernizes the framework for trade,strengthening enforcement, labor, and environmental provisions in an updated agreementthat does not adverselyimpact our businesses, workers, or consumers. It is important to our energy future, codifyinga new zero-tariff policyandfurther encouraging the energy exports across North America for years to come.Itrepresents a bipartisan accomplishment that will set the standard for future trade agreements.\r\nInternational trade supports an estimated 3 million jobs in Texas, many of them at the Port of Houston and in the greater Houston area. The state exported a record $315.9 billion in goods in 2018. Mexico is Texas' largest trading partner,and Canada is the state's second largest trading partner.The agreement enjoys support from a broad coalition of stakeholders, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the AFL-CIO.\r\nYou can watch the Congresswoman's floor speech on the agreementhere.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://gonzalez.house.gov/media/press-releases/congressman-gonzalez-delivers-speech-house-floor-usmca-and-rising-violence", "Congressman Gonzalez Delivers Speech on House Floor on USMCA and Rising Violence in Mexico", "2019-12-19", "2019", "2019-12", "Democrat", "House", "TX", "Vicente Gonzalez", "G000581", "gonzalez.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON  Today, Congressman Vicente Gonzalez (TX-15) delivered a speech on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives on the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) and the rising violence and insecurity in Mexico.\nIn his speech, Congressman Gonzalez emphasized that violence in Mexico will undoubtedly pose a threat to America's economic interests in the long-term.\nAll while we act as if nothing is happening in our own backyard, negotiators have worked tirelessly to get us here to today's vote, but they failed to acknowledge the single greatest threat to North American trade and prosperity  violence, said Congressman Gonzalez. By accepting this as the status quo, we risk standing in the way of our own economic success.\nThe full video of the speech is availablehere.\nBackground:\nViolence in Mexico has spiked significantly with 2018 reported as the deadliest in the country's historyaccording to a reportreleased by the Mexico's Secretariat of Security and Citizen Protection recorded 33,341 homicides, a 15% increase from 2017.\nCongressman Gonzalezhas frequently pushedU.S. and Mexico leaders to incorporate security guarantees with proper timelines and implementation like the Safe Highway program before considering a vote on the USMCA. The Safe Highway program is a pilot program proposed by Mexico that seeks to secure six highwaysthroughout Mexico, including Highway 40D, whichconnectsto international bridges along the U.S.  Mexico border to Monterrey, Nuevo Leon.\nCongressmen Gonzalez and Filemon Vela (TX-34) recentlysent a letterto House Speaker Nancy Pelosi expressing their grave concern about transnational criminal organizations' continued interference in the flow of cross border commerce and tourism. The Congressmen requested the Speaker's assistance to secure a firm commitment from the Mexican government to guarantee the protection of highways between the United States and Mexico used for trade and tourism.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://gonzalez.house.gov/media/press-releases/congressman-gonzalez-encourages-central-and-south-texans-apply-additional-550", "Congressman Gonzalez Encourages Central and South Texans to Apply for Additional $550 Million in Funding For USDA ReConnect Pilot Program", "2019-12-19", "2019", "2019-12", "Democrat", "House", "TX", "Vicente Gonzalez", "G000581", "gonzalez.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON  Today, Congressman Vicente Gonzalez (TX-15)is encouraging eligible Central and South Texans to apply for the additional$550 million in federal grants and loansannounced bythe United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) for theReConnectPilot Program. TheReConnectPilot Program's mission is to help close the digitaldivideby providing grants and loans for the costs of construction, improvement, or acquisition of facilities and equipment needed to provide broadband service in eligible rural areas.\nThe application for this funding opens January 31, 2020 andclosesMarch 16, 2020. The funding will be equally divided, with $200 million given in the form of grants and $200 million awarded as low-interest loans.\nReliable broadband iscriticalfor the success of businesses, schools and those who depend on the internet in ruralSouthTexascommunities, said Congressman Gonzalez. I encourage those who need access to connectivity to apply for these federal funds. I will continue to advocate for rural communitiesandinfrastructureto level-the-playing field and close the digital divide.\nThose eligible for funding include:\n State and local governments\n\tNon-profit entities\n\tFor-profit corporations\n\tLimited liability companies\n\tCooperative or mutual organizations\n More information on theReConnectProgram isavailable here.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://gonzalez.house.gov/media/press-releases/congressman-gonzalez-statement-following-house-vote-impeachment", "Congressman Gonzalez Statement Following House Vote on Impeachment", "2019-12-19", "2019", "2019-12", "Democrat", "House", "TX", "Vicente Gonzalez", "G000581", "gonzalez.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON  Today, Congressman Vicente Gonzalez (TX-15) issued a statement following the House of Representatives vote on H.Res.775 toImpeach President Donald J. Trump.\nToday is a solemn day for our country and the 15th District of Texas, said Congressman Gonzalez. I did not come to Congress to impeach a president,but the facts are clear and convincing. I am obligated by my oathof officeto defendour constitutionand democracy.Today will go down in historybuttomorrow is another day. Tomorrow, we willresume ourwork to lower prescription drug costs, to fight for debt-free education, to ensure care for our seniors,ourveterans, and those with special needs. I will continue to keep my promise to those in the 15th District of Texas to do all that I can to improve their quality of life as tomorrowis a new dayand our work does not cease.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://gonzalez.house.gov/media/press-releases/congressman-gonzalez-votes-passage-usmca", "Congressman Gonzalez Votes for Passage of the USMCA", "2019-12-19", "2019", "2019-12", "Democrat", "House", "TX", "Vicente Gonzalez", "G000581", "gonzalez.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON  Today, Congressman Vicente Gonzalez (TX-15) voted in favorof H.R. 5430, the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) Implementation Act. The USMCA will set the highest standard for enforcement in any U.S. trade agreement and provide much-needed certainty for farmers, ranchers, and businesses in the 15th District of Texas.\nThe agreement also includes a legislative victory for Congressman Gonzalez in the reauthorization of the North American Development Bank. The Bankworks to finance environmentally sound infrastructure that enhances the quality of life for people living in communities on both sides of U.S.  Mexico border, including in the 15thDistrict of Texas.\nThis trade agreement isa hard-fought compromise that will bring certainty to families, farmers, and businesses in the 15th District of Texasand raise the bar for enforcement, said Congressman Gonzalez. It is my hopethat we can bring this same level of vigor and urgency to continue North American cooperation and compromise on insecurity and othercriticalissues thathinder regional prosperity.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://gonzalez.house.gov/media/press-releases/congressman-gonzalez-votes-restore-tax-fairness-texans", "Congressman Gonzalez Votes to Restore Tax Fairness for Texans", "2019-12-19", "2019", "2019-12", "Democrat", "House", "TX", "Vicente Gonzalez", "G000581", "gonzalez.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON  Today, Congressman Vicente Gonzalez (TX-15) voted in favor ofH.R. 5377, Restoring Tax Fairness for States and Localities Act of 2019, a bill he also cosponsored. This bill will mitigate the damage done by one of the most devasting provisions in the Republican tax bill, the $10,000 cap on the State and Local Tax (SALT), and reverse the massive giveaway to the wealthiest tax bracket.\nThe restoration of the SALT deduction will provide much-needed tax relief for families, teachers, first responders, and middle-class Americans, said Congressman Gonzalez. There were many errors in the tax bill passed by Republicans and I am proud to be part of the solution to ease the minds of working families and those who serve our community. As we approach the upcoming tax season, millions of Americans, including those in the 15th District of Texas, will benefit from this legislation.\nIn addition, the bill will eliminate the SALT marriage penalty by allowingmarried couples to jointly file to deduct $20,000 and married couples can file separately to each claim $10,000.\nThe legislation will also enhance deductions for teachers and create a new deduction for first responders. The bill is set to double the deduction for educators' out-of-pocket expenses from $250 to $500 and create a $500 above-the-line deduction for professional first responders in regard to uniform cost and training.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://hurd.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/hurd-applauds-historic-usmca-passage", "Hurd Applauds Historic USMCA Passage", "2019-12-19", "2019", "2019-12", "Republican", "House", "TX", "Will Hurd", "H001073", "hurd.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON, DC  Today, U.S. Representative Will Hurd (TX-23) proudly supported the House passage of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). Rep. Hurd served as a member of the Republican Whip Team to ensure support for this landmark trade deal and has been a tireless advocate for free trade with Mexico and Canada throughout his time in Congress.\nRep. Hurd spoke on the House floor urging his colleagues to support USMCA and issued the following statement after the vote:\nFree trade with Mexico and Canada impacts just about every aspect of our lives, from the food on our tables and the clothes on our backs to the fuel in our cars. The United States, Mexico and Canada build things together, and this landmark trade deal makes sure that we continue our important trilateral relationship built from NAFTA into the 21st Century and beyond.\nWe also live in a world where our nation's military and economic dominance is no longer guaranteed, and the USMCA is vital for us to maintain our quality of life as we know it. This trade agreement will allow continued economic prosperity and North American competitiveness as China tries to replace the United States as the most important economy in the world. The USMCA also helps us continue to lead the way in advanced technology by modernizing NAFTA to account for technological change over the last quarter century.\nWhile today's passage is a huge win for American workers, we must make sure that we are not at this same position 25 years from now. The technological change in the next quarter century will make the changes over the last quarter century insignificant, and we need our friends in Mexico and Canada in order to be prepared for this global disruption.\nAmong other benefits, the USMCA will provide:\n Estimated investments of over $68 billion in new economic activity;\n\t176,000 new jobs in America;\n\tEstimated investment of $34 billion in new auto plants; and,\n\t76,000 new American automotive sector jobs.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://kaygranger.house.gov/media/e-newsletters/usmca-texas-sized-trade-deal", "USMCA  A Texas-Sized Trade Deal", "2019-12-19", "2019", "2019-12", "Republican", "House", "TX", "Kay Granger", "G000377", "kaygranger.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Dear Friends,\nThis week, the House passed the United States-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement, also known as the USMCA. After years of hard work, the Trump Administration was able to finalize this new trade deal that brings our trade policies into the modern age and is a huge win for our Texas workers, farmers, and manufacturers.\nMy staff and I have had the opportunity to meet with many of you in Washington, D.C., and back home who have felt the impact of our nation's bad, outdated trade policies. These businesses, farmers, and manufacturers have seen first hand their jobs and opportunities outsourced to other countries. As a former small business owner, I know that those jobs aren't just numbers on a spreadsheet--they represent thousands of Texas families and their livelihoods.\nPassing the USMCA is a major boost for our economy, and provides more than 176,000 new jobs for American workers. The USMCA puts in place the strongest and most comprehensive labor protection of any trade agreement in American history. It also removes unfair restrictions on America's farmers so they can sell more products to Mexico and Canada. Finally, the deal's new rules on intellectual property will better protect our District's high-tech businesses and innovators.\nOur great state of Texas exported over $137 billion to Mexico and Canada last year. Forty-seven percent of exports from our District, some $3 billion worth of goods, went to Mexico and Canada. In addition, over half of all trade-related jobs in our District were connected to commerce with our North American partners.\nThe USMCA is a win for the U.S. economy and Texas families, and it will serve as a new standard for all future U.S. trade deals. I was proud to vote for the deal and I am happy Democrats were finally able to put partisan politics aside in Washington and level the playing field for Texans, and the rest of the nation, so we can continue to grow the U.S. economy and create good-paying careers.\nSincerely,\nKay Granger", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://mccaul.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/mccaul-applauds-house-passage-of-usmca", "McCaul Applauds House Passage of USMCA", "2019-12-19", "2019", "2019-12", "Republican", "House", "TX", "Michael T. McCaul", "M001157", "mccaul.house.gov", "mccaul", "https://mccaul.house.gov/media-center/press-releases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013Congressman Michael McCaul (TX-10), the Lead Republican on the Foreign Affairs Committee, applauded the House passage of the United States Mexico Canada Agreement (USMCA), a modernized trade agreement that will grow the American economy and create Texas jobs.\n\n\"The USMCA is a major victory for the American people. I commend the Administration's leadership in modernizing the agreement to boost our economy, open markets, and create jobs in the United States. Many have billed the USMCA as a political win for President Trump, but legislation this impactful should transcend politics. This is a win for the American worker, first and foremost.\n\n\"Throughout USMCA negotiations, I engaged with leaders from Mexico and Canada to reach a final product that helps American and Texan farmers, workers, and manufactures succeed.\n\n\"Trade with Mexico and Canada is critical to the economy of my home state of Texas. We export $137 billion worth of goods and services to Mexico and Canada, contributing to our three countries' overall $1.2 trillion dollars in trade. By opening markets in Mexico and Canada for American agricultural and manufacturing goods, the USMCA will build on the more than 12 million American and nearly one million Texan jobs that are supported by North American trade. Additionally, the USMCA will establish rules on digital trade that will further empower Texans to continue to lead in technology and innovation.\n\n\"I was proud to cast my vote in support of the USMCA today. I am pleased we came together to deliver a win for the American worker, and it is imperative the USMCA be enacted as soon as possible.\"\n\nUSMCA by the numbers:\n\nOut of all 50 states, Texas is the #1 exporter to Mexico and the #2 exporter to Canada\n\nU.S. trade with Mexico and Canada totaled $1.2 trillion in 2018 and supports 12 million American jobs\n\nTexas trade with Mexico and Canada totaled $137 billion in 2018 and supports 950,000 jobs\n\nUSMCA will add an estimated $68.2 billion to the American economy and create over 176,000 American jobs\n\nAs co-chair of the U.S.-Mexico Interparliamentary Group, McCaul co-led a Congressional delegation to meet with Mexican lawmakers to the 54th IPG, where lawmakers from both nations discussed the importance of ratifying the USMCA. Read about McCaul's efforts to advance the USMCA here.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:45:33Z"], ["https://olson.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/olson-welcomes-final-passage-of-usmca", "Olson Welcomes Final Passage of USMCA", "2019-12-19", "2019", "2019-12", "Republican", "House", "TX", "Pete Olson", "O000168", "olson.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Washington, DC  Rep. Pete Olson (TX-22) today issued the following statement following House passage of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) in a bipartisan vote of 385- 41:\nMake no mistake: the top priority for businesses, manufacturers, employers, importers, exporters and the more than 40% of TX-22 jobs that depend on trade with Mexico and Canada wasn't impeachment; it was passage of USMCA. This new trade agreement replaces NAFTA and will continue to be a critical driver of our Texas economy. Today's bipartisan vote gives the United States a 21st Century trade deal that will create jobs, supercharge our already thriving economy and continue to reduce our reliance on OPEC by laying the foundation for NAPEC: North American Petroleum Exporting Countries. Thanks to the determination of President Trump, the diligent work of House Republicans and good-faith actions of our colleagues across the aisle, a major victory has been delivered to the American worker.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://ratcliffe.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=1440", "Rep. Ratcliffe votes to revitalize American trade through USMCA", "2019-12-19", "2019", "2019-12", "Republican", "House", "TX", "John Ratcliffe", "R000601", "ratcliffe.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Rep. John Ratcliffe (R-Texas) voted for the passage of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement Implementation Act (H.R. 5430) today in the U.S. House of Representatives.\r\nThe bill will initiate implementation of the USMCA, which was negotiated between the Trump administration, Canada and Mexico to open new, fair trade opportunities that will grow the U.S. economy and boost job creation. According to the International Trade Commission, the USMCA will create more than $68 billion in new economic activity and 176,000 new jobs in America.\r\nJust one day after my Democratic colleagues voted to impeach President Trump, they took a bipartisan vote to implement the Trump administration's historic trade deal. It shouldn't have taken Speaker Pelosi several months to get this vote on the calendar, especially with such wide support from Americans on both sides of the aisle. But, yesterday, she made it clear that Democrats' No. 1 priority is politics, Ratcliffe said.\r\nIn the state of Texas, 949,000 jobs are supported by imports with Canada and Mexico, which translates to more than $127 billion in goods in services. I thank President Trump for working out this new trade deal with our North American neighbors that will open the door for vast economic growth here in Northeast Texas and across the country, and I look forward to its long-awaited implementation.\r\nH.R. 5430 now awaits Senate passage and the president's signature for the USMCA to go into effect.\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://roy.house.gov/media/press-releases/rep-chip-roy-statement-after-voting-passage-text-ratify-us-mexico-canada-free", "Rep. Chip Roy Statement After Voting on Passage of the Text to Ratify the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Free Trade Agreement:", "2019-12-19", "2019", "2019-12", "Republican", "House", "TX", "Chip Roy", "R000614", "roy.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Rep. Chip Roy Statement After Voting on Passage of the Text to Ratify the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Free Trade Agreement:\nToday I voted to support passage of H.R. 5430, the bill implementing USMCA. While I would have preferred to keep NAFTA intact and negotiate some additional provisions to modernize it, I voted to support the deal to give our companies trade certainty and our country market stability. I would not have written the legislative text the same way, but it is important we strengthen our continent and bolster our capitalistic economic system to better pushback against communist China's corrupt trade practices and foreign policy malfeasance.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://thornberry.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=401423", "Congressman Mac Thornberry's Statement for the Record on Impeachment", "2019-12-19", "2019", "2019-12", "Republican", "House", "TX", "William Thornberry", "T000238", "thornberry.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Statement of Rep. Mac Thornberry\r\n  (Texas  13th)\r\n\r\nH. Res. 755\r\n\r\nMadam Speaker,\r\nIn 1998, I voted for three of the four counts of impeachment brought against President Clinton. Those votes were some of the most difficult I have cast during my 25 years in Congress. Impeachment is an extreme remedy, which, in effect, alters a decision made by the American people through an election. It was clear, however, that President Clinton had lied under oath in a judicial proceeding, a felony crime for which other Americans are routinely prosecuted and convicted. In my view, dismissing such a crime because the lies involved private rather than public actions or because the perjurer was the President of the United States would have undermined the rule of law and presented a danger to our constitutional system of government. Therefore, I voted for three of the counts.\r\nThe count of impeachment that I voted against in 1998 involved abuse of power. It was essentially a repeat of the perjury recited in other counts and a failure to provide information to Congress. It was also one of two counts that failed to receive a majority of the votes on the Floor of the House.\r\nIn contrast to 1998, the votes I make today are not difficult at all. After three years of investigating this President, House Democrats center their case for impeachment on one phone call between President Trump and the President of Ukraine, a transcript of which has been released.\r\nI believe that aspects of that phone call, particularly discussing an investigation of a political opponent, were inappropriate for a president. I recognize that ignoring potentially corrupt behavior because of political prominence could lead to another set of problems. Nonetheless, under the circumstances, I believe that it would have been best if the President had avoided such topics.\r\nInappropriate does not mean impeachable. The Constitution sets a high standard for impeachable conduct: Treason, Bribery, other high Crimes and Misdemeanors. (Article II, Section 4) A potentially inappropriate conversation does not begin to approach that standard, as the counts brought before us today demonstrate.\r\nCount one alleges abuse of power, the same phrase rejected by the House in the Clinton impeachment. The allegations relate to the phone call, an investigation that was never conducted, and a temporary delay in military aid being released. In spite of a last-minute attempt in the Judiciary Committee's report to allege some form of bribery, the evidence and the law do not support the charge, and the Committee made no serious attempt to prove it. Instead, we are left with a nebulous, subjective phrase that can be used to cover any political or stylistic difference.\r\nCount two alleges obstruction of Congress. I find it remarkable that an impeachment process which, in contrast to those prior, has been totally partisan with no attempt at a jointly-decided bipartisan process, would attempt to impeach a president for resisting such partisanship. In addition, I believe that it is a mistake to essentially criminalize the inherent tensions between the legislative and executive branches of government.\r\nTo describe these counts as weak overstates them. A partisan process, designed from the beginning to achieve a desired result, brings to the Floor two counts that do not begin to meet the constitutional standard for impeachment, even if all of the facts alleged are assumed true. It is a misuse  one might say \"abuse\" -- of the Constitution's impeachment power.\r\nOne final concern: the partisan process used in this case degrades established boundaries of political competition that have helped this nation survive intense political differences for over two hundred years. As a result, I fear that partisan impeachment efforts may well become just another tool in the political arsenal, expected to be pursued by whichever party loses a presidential election. \r\nThe damage done to our constitutional processes and to our institutions by this hyper-partisan, flawed process is greater than any alleged harm done by the President's phone call. I hope and trust that the American people in their wisdom will see that appropriate boundaries and constitutional balance are restored.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://thornberry.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=401424", "Congressman Thornberry votes in favor of USMCA", "2019-12-19", "2019", "2019-12", "Republican", "House", "TX", "William Thornberry", "T000238", "thornberry.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Congressman Thornberry votes in favor of USMCA \r\n   \r\n    \r\n       \r\n      \r\n  \r\n    \r\n      f \r\n      t \r\n      #\r\n      e\r\n      \r\n      \r\n    \r\n    \r\n      \r\n        Washington,\r\n        December 19, 2019\r\n      \r\n       \r\n    \r\n  \r\n  \r\n  \r\n  \r\n  \r\n  \r\n  \r\n    \r\n      \r\n      \r\n      \r\n    \r\n        \r\n            FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE\r\n            CONTACT:Jordan Hunter\r\n            \r\n        \r\n        \r\n            December 12, 2019\r\n            (202) 225-3706\r\n        \r\n    \r\n\r\n\r\n    \r\n        \r\n            Congressman Thornberry votes in favor of USMCA\r\n        \r\n    \r\n\r\n\r\n    \r\n        \r\n            \r\n            WASHINGTON Congressman Mac Thornberry (R-Clarendon) voted today for the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).\r\n            Under the current trade agreement, NAFTA, all agricultural tariffs were phased out to zero except for certain products, which include U.S. imports from Canada of dairy products, peanuts, peanut butter, cotton, and sugar, and Canadian imports from the United States of dairy products, poultry, eggs, and margarine. All food and agricultural products that have zero tariffs under NAFTA would remain at zero under USMCA, and market access would be expanded for the additional agricultural products traded between Canada and the United States.\r\n            Our trade partnerships with Mexico and Canada are important to the well-being of our economy. USMCA is a win for farmers, ranchers, manufactures, and the American economy,said Thornberry. This agreement is good for our markets. It is important that Americans have open markets in which to sell goods.\r\n            How will this agreement affect you?\r\n            \r\n                Eliminates the NAFTA loopholethat exempts purchases by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) from the Buy American requirements known as the Kissell Amendment, affectingcotton. TSA will now be required to purchase uniforms made ofAmerican-grown cotton. In Fiscal Year 2017, TSA purchased approximately $34 million worth oftextile and apparel products.\r\n                Texascurrently exports more than any other state to Mexico and is second in exports to Canada. This totaled $137 billion worth of products to North American partners in 2018.\r\n                More than 950,000jobsin Texas are supported by trade with Mexico and Canada including 60,400jobssupported byexporting agriculture products.\r\n                The annual value of Texas' agricultural exports to our North American neighbors total more than $7.2 billion.\r\n                Economy-wide models estimate that USMCA willincrease America's GDPby about $68.2 billion and employment by 176,000full-time jobs.\r\n                Wagesare expected to increase for workers in all fields by .27 percent or $150 per worker per year.\r\n                U.S.agricultural exportsto Mexico and Canada would increase by $2.2 billion, when implemented.\r\n            \r\n            \r\n            \r\n        \r\n        \r\n            ###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://vantaylor.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=2469", "Rep. Taylor Votes to Support Collin County Workers and Families", "2019-12-19", "2019", "2019-12", "Republican", "House", "TX", "Van Taylor", "T000479", "vantaylor.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Today, Congressman Van Taylor voted in favor of the United States-Mexico-Canada trade agreement.\r\n          share:\r\n          f \r\n          t \r\n        \r\n      \r\n      WASHINGTON - Today, after more than a year of waiting for the agreement to be brought to the House Floor for consideration, Congressman Van Taylor (TX-03) voted in favor of the United States-Mexico-Canada trade agreement.\r\n\r\n    \r\n        \r\n            \r\n            Congressman Van Taylor said, \"Collin County is home to retailers, high-tech companies, manufacturing companies, and corporate headquarters - all of whom depend on trade with Mexico and Canada.\" He continued, \"But USMCA isn't just a win for job creators, it's a win for families right here in North Texas and across our country. As a result of this trade agreement, families in Collin County will see more job opportunities, increased wages, and lower cost of goods.\"\r\n            \r\n        \r\n    \r\n\r\nA vocal supporter of USMCA, Congressman Taylor has advocated to implement the trade agreement since being sworn-in at the beginning of 2019. In fact, the first meeting of the Texas Delegation this year focused on updating the North American Free Trade Agreement. Since then, Congressman Taylor has worked to educate and his colleagues on the benefits of USMCA, organizing several bipartisan meetings on trade with his colleagues in the House of Representatives.  On December 9, 2019, Congressman Taylor and 158 Republican Members of the House sent a letter urging Speaker Pelosi to bring the trade agreement to the House Floor for consideration before the end of the year. The text of the letter can be found here.  Most recently, Congressman Taylor joined with a bipartisan group of Members from the Texas delegation again highlight the critical need to pass the trade agreement before the end of the year.  Estimates show trade with Mexico and Canada supports eleven million jobs in the United States, with nearly a million of those jobs located in Texas. North American trade accounts for approximately $1.3 trillion in U.S. exports annually, over $120 billion from Texas alone. The United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, which preserves and strengthens the benefits of North American trade for American workers, businesses, and consumers, is supported by the Frisco and Plano Chambers of Commerce. \r\n\r\n    \r\n        \r\n            \r\n            \"Trade with Mexico and Canada is not only a critical component of our local economy but is responsible for the livelihood of countless Frisco workers and their families. Frisco is already an international city, as is the entire region, and is poised to grow even more so in the years ahead. International trade is crucial for our continued growth and development. In Congress, Representative Taylor has been resolute in his efforts to get the USMCA implemented and we are excited to stand with him as the voice of business in Frisco. - Tony Felker; President/CEO, Frisco Chamber of CommercePlano is home to some of the most innovative companies in the world  companies that share their products and services across the globe. Congressman Taylor knows without access to foreign markets these local companies cannot continue to grow and create jobs right here in Plano. We are proud to join him in urging Congress to support passage and implementation of the USMCA. - Kelle Marsalis; President/CEO, Plano Chamber of Commerce\r\n            \r\n            \r\n        \r\n    \r\n\r\n\r\nA 7th generation Texan, Congressman Van Taylor is a dedicated family man, successful businessman, and decorated Marine Officer. Taylor served Collin County both in the Texas House of Representatives and Texas Senate. On November 6, 2018, Van Taylor was elected to represent Texas' 3rd Congressional District in the United States Congress.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://veasey.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/congressman-marc-veasey-tx-33-statement-on-passage-of-the-united-states", "Congressman Marc Veasey (TX-33) Statement on Passage of the United States Mexico Canada Agreement (USMCA)", "2019-12-19", "2019", "2019-12", "Democrat", "House", "TX", "Marc A. Veasey", "V000131", "veasey.house.gov", "veasey", "https://veasey.house.gov/media-center/press-releases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013Congressman Marc Veasey (TX-33) released the following statement after he joined his colleagues to pass the United States Mexico Canada Agreement (USMCA):\n\n\"Today, I had the opportunity to pass a newly renegotiated trade deal, better known as the United States Mexico Canada Agreement (USMCA), that has the strongest enforcement mechanisms of any U.S. trade agreement, as well as critical victories for workers, lower prescription drug costs and environmental protections. The end result of this bipartisan trade agreement is a vast improvement over the original North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the agreement negotiated by President Trump last year. Today's deal is also critical to our North Texas economy, as Texas is the number one trade state in the country, and nearly one million Texas jobs are supported by trade with Canada and Mexico.\n\nWhile I praise today's passage of this legislation, I know that no deal is perfect. This deal alone will not solve the problems of outsourcing, income inequality or climate change. Therefore, USMCA is not a model moving forward, but it establishes important principles we can build from in future trade deals.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:45:33Z"], ["https://weber.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=569", "Weber introduces THE U.S. LEADERSHIP IN SPACE ACT OF 2019", "2019-12-19", "2019", "2019-12", "Republican", "House", "TX", "Randy Weber", "W000814", "weber.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON D.C.  On Tuesday, December 17, 2019, Congressman Randy Weber (R-TX-14), introduced H.R. 5470, the U.S. Leadership in Space Act of 2019.   \r\n\r\nH.R. 5470 extends International Space Station (ISS) operations from 2024 to 2030 and puts forward policies to promote the development and growth of a commercial market in low-Earth orbit (LEO).  \r\n\r\nAmerican leadership in low-Earth orbit is not only beneficial for science, but critical for our national security. As made clear in the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission's annual report to Congress, America must act to counter Chinese threats to America's presence in low-Earth orbit and to our domestic commercial launch and satellite sectors.  \r\n\r\n\"We are truly living in an exciting time for space exploration and scientific discovery. President Trump and Vice President Pence are reinvigorating our nation's human spaceflight program with the task of returning U.S. astronauts to the moon, including the first woman by 2024. My bill would establish Johnson Space Center (JSC) as the Artemis program management office. Since its creation in 1961, JSC remains NASA's lead center for human spaceflight, serving as the global hub for managing and integrating complex activities associated with keeping astronauts alive and working in space. JSC led this charge not only to the Moon during the Apollo missions, but subsequently served as the location for the Space Shuttle, Space Station (ISS), Constellation, Orion, and Gateway programs.\r\nCreated for the coordination of critical and long-duration development activities for humans in space, JSC is the right choice for Artemis lead center, said Congressman Randy Weber. The U.S. Leadership in Space Act of 2019 also focuses on crew transportation safety and transparency.  \r\n\r\nBay Area Houston Economic Partnership (BAHEP) supports the extension of the International Space Station (ISS) operations to 2030 included in Congressman Weber's bill, the U.S. Leadership in Space Act of 2019 (H.R. 5470). ISS is important for scientific discovery and will continue to be crucial to commercial development in low-Earth orbit. BAHEP also supports designating Johnson Space Center (JSC) as the Artemis program management office for the coming manned missions to the moon and beyond. JSC has a long history and unique skillset when it comes to all components of human spaceflight and mission ops, said Bob Mitchell, President of Bay Area Houston Economic Partnership.\r\n\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://williams.house.gov/media-center/in-the-news/us-house-passes-replacement-for-north-american-free-trade-agreement", "U.S. House passes replacement for North American Free Trade Agreement", "2019-12-19", "2019", "2019-12", "Republican", "House", "TX", "Roger Williams", "W000816", "williams.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON - The U.S. House passed a major trade deal on Thursday that will reset the economic relationships within North America.\nThe United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement passed with a 385-41 vote and will now head to the Senate, which is expected to approve it next year. The deal will replace the North American Free Trade Agreement, a 1994 agreement that dramatically changed the landscape of the Texas economy. While the three countries announced the agreementa year ago, the deal hit some turbulence in the Democratically-controlled House.\nMany Texas lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have urged its passage, due to the state's reliance on cross-border commerce with Mexico. Texas has more ports of entry with Mexico  or any country, for that matter  than any other state in the U.S. In a sign of the trade deal's importance to the state, all Texans in the House voted in favor of it.\n\"It is a victory for Texas workers, businesses and communities, as trade between our home state and our North American neighbors supports nearly one million jobs, and results in billions of dollars flowing into our economy,\" said U.S. Rep.Roger Williams, R-Austin. \"This agreement is about growth and certainty for our country, and it sends the message that we are going to lead the world.\nApproving the agreement has been especially vital to Texans who represent districts along the border.\n\"As a representative of one of the largest manufacturing regions in North America, a vote for an updated NAFTA is a vote for the more than 23,000 El Pasoans dependent on a prosperous border economy,\" said U.S. Rep.Veronica Escobar, D-El Paso.\nShould it pass the Senate, the USMCA will be the capstone of President Donald Trump's economic agenda. Republicans from Texas praised the president for his administration's work securing the deal.\n\"Let's give credit where credit is due for the one who led the charge, who did the heavy lifting  our President Donald J. Trump,\" said U.S. Rep. Jodey Arrington, R-Lubbock. \"In 2016, he was already calling out some of these trade deals as a rip off on American workers and manufacturers. While we saw a 400% increase in trade for agriculture products since the inception of NAFTA, it hasn't been good all the way around, it hasn't been fair all the way around, and it hasn't been productive in terms of keeping jobs here in the United States.\nA number of Texans wereclosely involved in passage, thanks to assignments on the Ways and Means Committee and the number of Texans who represent the border.\nThe new, Trump-negotiated deal will have many similarities with the old agreement, but there aresome differences. The changes that will most impact Texans include increased enforcement of labor and environmental laws and an increase in the threshold of how much of a car must be manufactured in a country to avoid tariffs.\nIt is unclear when the Senate will take up the legislation. U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has indicated in recent days that he would not address the matter until the conclusion of Trump's coming impeachment trial. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi did not publicly determine Wednesday night when she would take the case to the Senate.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://williams.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/rep-williams-praises-house-passage-of-the-usmca", "Rep. Williams Praises House Passage of the USMCA", "2019-12-19", "2019", "2019-12", "Republican", "House", "TX", "Roger Williams", "W000816", "williams.house.gov", "williams", "https://williams.house.gov/media-center/press-releases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Congressman Roger Williams (R-TX-25) today released the following statement after the U.S. House of Representatives approved the United States Mexico Canada Agreement:\n\n\"I have long-championed the USMCA as a victory for Texas and our nation \u2013 and while it's disappointing that my colleagues on the other side of the aisle chose to play politics instead of finalizing this deal when called upon, I am grateful we finally put the best interests of our nation first. It is a victory for Texas workers, businesses and communities, as trade between our home state and our North American neighbors supports nearly one million jobs, and results in billions of dollars flowing into our economy. This agreement is about growth and certainty for our country, and it sends the message that we are going to lead the world.\"\n\nClick here to view Congressman Williams' recent op-ed in the Cleburne Times Review urging Speaker Pelosi to bring the agreement up for consideration in the House of Representatives.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:45:33Z"], ["https://www.cornyn.senate.gov/content/news/cornyn-announces-his-nadbank-provision-included-usmca", "Cornyn Announces His NADBank Provision Included in USMCA", "2019-12-19", "2019", "2019-12", "Republican", "House", "TX", "John Cornyn", "C001056", "www.cornyn.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON U.S. Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) released the following statement applauding the inclusion of his provision to bolster the North American Development Bank (NADBank) in the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA):\nInvesting in modern, efficient infrastructure along our border streamlines trade and benefits not only Texas, but the entire nation, said Sen. Cornyn. The North American Development Bank has a proven record of improving the quality of life on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border, and I'm glad the USMCA shows our commitment to strengthening it.\nThe North American Development Bank was created jointly by the United States and Mexico in 1993 to preserve and enhance environmental conditions and the quality of life for communities along the U.S.-Mexico border. Since that time, NADBank has helped finance 63 Texas projects with a combined value of more than $1.7 billion.\nEarlier this year, Sen. Cornyn introduced the bipartisan North American Development Bank Improvement Act of 2019 to authorize the Treasury Department to increase its capital and provide additional authority to fund projects related to limited natural gas and land port of entry infrastructure.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://www.cornyn.senate.gov/content/news/cornyn-cruz-urge-trump-administration-prioritize-bringing-citgo-6-home", "Cornyn, Cruz Urge Trump Administration to Prioritize Bringing CITGO 6 Home", "2019-12-19", "2019", "2019-12", "Republican", "House", "TX", "John Cornyn", "C001056", "www.cornyn.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTONU.S. Senators John Cornyn (R-TX) and Ted Cruz (R-TX) today sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to urge the State Department to do everything it can to ensure the safe homecoming of the six CITGO employees currently being detained in Venezuela.\nThey wrote: As the administration continues to successfully craft policy and solutions, we write to express our steadfast commitment to securing the release of Gustavo Cardenas, Jose Angel Pereira, Jorge Toledo, Tomeu Vadell, Alirio Zambrano, and Jose Luis Zambrano, otherwise known as the CITGO 6, from their unjust detainment in Venezuela.\nWe realize there are competing equities at play in Venezuela and we strongly support the Administration's commitment to securing free and fair elections in Venezuela; however, it must be made clear to all stakeholders that American citizens must be released and not made political pawns by anyone or any group. Therefore, we urge the Administration to use every tool at its disposal to help these Americans.\nSenators Bill Cassidy (R-LA), John Kennedy (R-LA), Thom Tillis (R-NC), and Chris Coons (D-DE) also signed the letter. You can view the signed letter here, and text is below.  \nThe Honorable Michael R. Pompeo  Secretary of State  U.S. Department of State  2201 C Street N.W.  Washington, D.C. 20320\nDear Secretary Pompeo, We write to express our support for ongoing efforts to secure the release of Americans held hostage or unlawfully detained in many rogue nations such as Iran, Venezuela, Cuba, Syria and others. As the administration continues to successfully craft policy and solutions, we write to express our steadfast commitment to securing the release of Gustavo Cardenas, Jose Angel Pereira, Jorge Toledo, Tomeu Vadell, Alirio Zambrano, and Jose Luis Zambrano, otherwise known as the CITGO 6, from their unjust detainment in Venezuela. As you know, the CITGO 6 have suffered from over two years of inhumane detainment conditions and lack of due process. They have experienced significant health hardships as a direct result of their treatment by the oppressive Maduro regime and others who support them. Imprisoned in an overcrowded basement for two years with limited access to sufficient nutrition, exercise, or medical treatment, the men are reported to have suffered severe weight loss and significant physical pain. Although their recent transfer to house arrest is a promising development, we believe it is crucial the Administration maintain maximum economic and diplomatic pressure in order to secure their full release and return. We realize there are competing equities at play in Venezuela and we strongly support the Administration's commitment to securing free and fair elections in Venezuela; however, it must be made clear to all stakeholders that American citizens must be released and not made political pawns by anyone or any group. Therefore, we urge the Administration to use every tool at its disposal to help these Americans. American national interests and citizens must come first. We will continue to support efforts to maintain diplomatic and economic pressure on the illegitimate Maduro regime in Venezuela and secure the release of the CITGO 6.  \nSincerely,\n/s/", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://burgess.house.gov/blog/?postid=402254", "Burgess Votes Against Impeachment", "2019-12-18", "2019", "2019-12", "Republican", "House", "TX", "Michael Burgess", "B001248", "burgess.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Washington, D.C.  Congressman Michael C. Burgess, M.D. (R-TX), member of the House Rules Committee and Republican Leader of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health released the following statement after the House of Representatives passed Articles of Impeachment.\r\n            The rush to impeach first and solidify the case second threatens the credibility of the process and the body engaged, this House of Representatives, Burgess said.\r\n            Since voting to authorize an official impeachment investigation, the nation has seen how the process has not protected the minority as in previous impeachment investigations. Chairmen of the investigating committees have violated House rules by refusing to grant access to committee records to Members or schedule a minority hearing within a reasonable timeframe. An abundance of anger helped initiate this process, all but guaranteeing the outcome before the investigation.\r\n            This is a grave decision that I do not take lightly. I do not believe the evidence presented amounts to an impeachable offense. And, I am concerned about what we are missing while engaged in this partisan investigation. If the intent is to protect the integrity of our election, and our democracy, we must refocus on real threats, namely Russian intrusion, that we know to be ongoing.\r\n            While the outcome of this impeachment has been known since the start, my desire is that the country will be able to come back together and heal the wounds caused by this partisan exercise.\r\n            ###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://cuellar.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=404930", "Rep. Cuellars Statement on Impeachment", "2019-12-18", "2019", "2019-12", "Democrat", "House", "TX", "Henry Cuellar", "C001063", "cuellar.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "As an attorney, I have represented clients before judges and juries and found that if anyone had prejudged a case, it would be considered a disqualification. I made a commitment to my constituents from the very beginning of this process that I would only decide my vote after hearing the evidence and arguments on both sides. \r\nNow that the arguments and facts have been presented, I have decided to vote for both articles of impeachment. The House investigations made it clear:the President pressured a foreign government for his own political gain while withholding congressionally-approved foreign aid, compromising our national security. Additionally, the President obstructed Congress by refusing to cooperate with any attempt to gather the facts. \r\nI did not come to Washington to impeach a President; I ran for Congress to pass meaningful legislation for the district that elected me. This process brings me no joy, however, as a member of Congress, I have an obligation to protect our Constitution and our nation from abuses of power. \r\nA failure to vote yes would be a repudiation of my Constitutional responsibility to check the President and balance our democracy. The President is not above the law, and this Congress must hold him accountable for his actions. \r\nI want to stress that we are still legislating. The U.S. House of Representatives has passed 275 bipartisan bills that address making college affordable, keeping our communities safe, growing small businesses, and lowering healthcare costs for the middle class. Soon we will ratify the USMCA, the largest trade deal that will significantly help farmers, manufacturers, workers and consumers in my district and across the country. \r\nI will continue to do the job that the people of Texas's 28th Congressional District have elected me to do, which is to legislate for my constituents and protect our democracy.\r\n\r\nTo see the Key Findings from the Select Committee on Intelligence, click here. \r\nTo see the Trump Ukraine Impeachment Inquiry Report, click here.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://flores.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=401256", "Bill Flores Statement on House Impeachment Vote", "2019-12-18", "2019", "2019-12", "Republican", "House", "TX", "Bill Flores", "F000461", "flores.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "U.S. Representative Bill Flores (R-Texas) issued the following statement regarding his decision to vote against articles of impeachment related to President Trump: \"Today, for the third time in our country's history, the House voted on articles of impeachment of a sitting president. This process has been partisan and politically motivated from the start. \"This afternoon, I delivered the following remarks on the floor of the House of Representatives regarding the pending articles of impeachment related to President Donald J. Trump  Madam Speaker: On March 11th of this year, the Speaker of the House said the following in an interview with The Washington Post  Impeachment is so divisive to the country that unless there's something so compelling and overwhelming and bipartisan, I don't think we should go down that path, because it divides the country. I think most Americans would agree with that statement because it sounds thoughtful and reasonable. So, here we are today getting ready to vote on articles of impeachment. How did the majority party do in meeting the objectives stated by the Speaker? Here are the answers: First, the only compelling attribute about this sham is the lengths the majority has gone to appease the radical, socialist wing of their party. Second, the only overwhelming feature about this sham is the evidence of abuse of power by the majority and the reckless disregard for fairness by the majority throughout this circus. And, finally, the only bipartisan activity related to this sham will be the votes against these flimsy articles of impeachment. I ask my colleagues to join me in opposing these deplorable articles of impeachment and to demand that the House get back to working on the priorities that hardworking American families care about most.' \"As anyone can tell from my comments, I voted NO on the Democrats' articles of impeachment. In the paragraphs that follow, I will layout the truth behind this sad episode in American governance, and why I made my decision to vote against impeachment. \"I think it is instructive to reflect on the comments of Alexander Hamilton in Federalist 65, where he wrote that impeachment often will connect itself with the pre-existing factions, and will enlist all their animosities, partialities, influence, and interest on one side or the other,' causing the process to be regulated more by the comparative strength of parties, than by the real demonstrations of innocence or guilt.' These warnings from Mr. Hamilton have manifested themselves in the current impeachment process, which is not about innocence, or guilt, or even about any crimes; rather, it is about the animosities of the House majority party toward our nation's duly elected president.  \"The House of Representatives has considered the impeachment of a sitting president four times during the history of our Republic. I concur with House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy when he characterizes the current process as follows  this impeachment attempt is the thinnest, fastest, and weakest impeachment in our country's history. The real fear that you have here going forward is that this will be the new norm of Congress [and] what Alexander Hamilton warned us all about -- that a political party would capture this just to use it for their own political gain...Speaker [Nancy Pelosi] admits for the last two and a half years that she's been trying to impeach this President.' \"President Trump also identified this problem in a letter that he provided to Speaker Pelosi yesterday where he stated, Any member of Congress who votes in support of impeachmentagainst any shred of truth, fact, evidence, and legal principleis showing how deeply they revile the voters and how truly they detest America's Constitutional order. Our Founders feared the tribalization of partisan politics, and you are bringing their worst fears to life. ... This is nothing more than an illegal, partisan attempted coup that will, based on recent sentiment, badly fail at the voting booth. ... History will judge you harshly as you proceed with this impeachment charade. Your legacy will be that of turning the House of Representatives from a revered legislative body into a Star Chamber of partisan persecution.' \"Since Speaker Pelosi announced the impeachment inquiry, the Democrats' pattern of behavior has been deeply irresponsible and reckless. They have operated in secret, abused the rules, abused their power, denied due process, disregarded the facts and evidence, and instructed witnesses not to answer Republican questions. They even used focus groups to decide which crime they should accuse the president of. Despite all these abuses, despite having stacked the deck in their favor, the Democrats have failed to prove their case. They proceeded in their partisan and irresponsible determination to impeach the president, putting the Constitution and the Republic in peril. Moving to impeach a president based on this record of assumptions and hearsay is, as liberal constitutional law expert Jonathan Turley testified, not just woefully inadequate, but, in some respects, dangerous as the basis for the impeachment of the American president.' Nowhere in the Constitution does it say you can impeach a president without direct evidence. Nowhere in the Constitution does it say you can assume impeachable conduct. The Constitution does not say if you are angry enough at a president of the opposing party and are afraid you cannot beat him in the election, that you can assume impeachable conduct. \"The Democrats' real reasons for pursuing this have been made clear in this video -- https://youtu.be/XZuSl55a69Y \"Even before the whistleblower complaint was filed, more than half of the Democratic caucus supported impeachment. In fact, 44 percent of the entire Democratic caucus has voted previously to impeach the president, and those votes took place prior to the July phone call even taking place.  \"The Pelosi, Schiff, Nadler, Democrat impeachment process will fail because it was flawed from its origins. This was first suggested by The Washington Post only 19 minutes after the inauguration of President Trump when they published the following headline  The Campaign to Impeach President Trump has begun.' Following that headline the impeachment campaign started with Russia, continued to the Mueller investigation, jumped to a so-called whistleblower, screamed with claims of quid pro quo', morphed to bribery, extortion, and wire fraud', before ultimately limping to the finish line with no criminal charges, and ultimately culminating with vague claims of abuse of power' and obstruction of justice.' \"Today's impeachment gamble will fail when it goes to the Senate. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell succinctly described the House Democrats' process in the speech that he gave yesterday on the Senate floor. He called the process the most rushed, least thorough, and most unfair impeachment inquiry in modern history.' He went on to state that, 'House Democrats' slapdash impeachment inquiry has failed to come anywhere near the bar for impeaching a duly-elected president,' and noted that they are, poised to send the Senate the thinnest, least thorough presidential impeachment in our nation's history.' \"Democrats justified this process today by calling it a solemn occasion'. In reality, it is business as usual for Democrats who are consumed by their blinding hatred for President Trump. Americans want Congress to focus on bipartisan solutions to fix real-world problems. The impeachment charade and the hyper-partisanship of the Left has kept Congress from doing the work necessary to fix the problems that hardworking American families care about most. Now that Pelosi, Schiff, Nadler, et al. have played this political stunt to its impending demise, my hope is that the People's House can now get back to doing the people's business. I also pray that future Congresses will look at the unfortunate history created by the House of Representatives of the 116th Congress and use it as an example to avoid.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://www.cruz.senate.gov?p=press_release&id=4825", "Sen. Cruz on Fox Business 'Mornings with Maria': Articles of Impeachment Are a Political Gesture of Anger", "2019-12-18", "2019", "2019-12", "Republican", "House", "TX", "Ted Cruz", "C001098", "www.cruz.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), member of the Senate Judiciary and Foreign Relations Committees, today appeared on Fox Business Network's Mornings with Maria' to discuss the House Democrats' Articles of Impeachment, which he called \"a political gesture of anger,\" and his expectations for the trial in the Senate. Sen. Cruz also highlighted his bipartisan bill to stop construction of Putin's Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which was included in the final FY20 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).\nOn House Democrats' vote today on Articles of Impeachment, Sen. Cruz said:\n\"These two articles really are an admission of failure from the House Democrats. We have seen their case collapse. [...] Where the House Democrats are now, their position is they can impeach without the president having committed any crime or without the president having broken any law whatsoever. Their position is he doesn't even have to have a speeding ticket. They could impeach for what are essentially policy and political differences with the president. That's an abuse of our constitutional process. The Constitution sets out the standards for impeachment that is treason, bribery or other high crimes and misdemeanors. And what they've alleged here on its face doesn't meet that. This is a political gesture of anger. Their base hates Donald Trump, and they're voting to impeach him because they hate him. That really is telling the voters that Washington politicians think they know better than the people who cast their ballots.\"\nWhen asked about Sen. Chuck Schumer's request to call witnesses in the Senate, Sen. Cruz said:\n\"In terms of the prosecution, the House Democrats, they have had several months of hearings. They've called their witnesses and they didn't follow their own House precedence. In other words, it was a one-sided hearing. The White House got zero chance to cross examine witnesses. Republicans were not able to call any witnesses because Adam Schiff and Jerry Nadler denied them the ability to call witnesses. And so they built their evidentiary record entirely one-sided evidentiary record. So now Chuck Schumer is coming to the Senate and saying here are the witnesses we want to call. Well, if they want to call those witnesses, you know they can call all four of them. They need to postpone the vote today in the House, and issue subpoenas from the House.\"\nSen. Cruz continued, noting the president should have the opportunity to present his defense:\n\"The other side hasn't had a chance to call a single witness. The White House has not presented its defense. And so I think if the president's defense team, if the president wants to call witnesses, if the president wants to call Hunter Biden, if the president wants to call the whistleblower, both of whom should have been called in the House, the president should have the opportunity to do that. That means the Senate should allow the president to call the core witnesses necessary for his defense.\"\nWhen asked about Inspector General Horowitz's report on FISA abuse, Sen. Cruz said:\n\"The Inspector General report is nothing short of stunning. It is 434 pages, and it details in excruciating detail a massive pattern abusive of power. In particular, it details 17 specific missed statements, material missed statements the DOJ and FBI made to the FISA court. The most stunning of which is an FBI lawyer doctored an email, doctored evidence, and submitted fraudulent evidence to the court. Somebody is going to jail over that.\"\nOn the passage of the FY20 NDAA, including imposing company-crippling sanctions to stop Russia's Nord Stream 2, Sen. Cruz said:\n\"This pipeline if it's completed, what it would do, it would generate billions of dollars for Putin. And Putin would use that to continue Russia's military aggressiveness. It would make Europe even more dependent on Russian energy, and that makes Europe susceptible to economic blackmail. Because Putin has already demonstrated he's perfectly willing to cut off the gas in the dead of winter to try to force people to do what he wants. Europe dependent on Russia is not good for Europe and it's not good for America. And by stopping this pipeline, by getting the sanction's legislation passed, [...] that will hurt Putin, it will take billions away from him, it will help Europe, it helps Ukraine enormously, and it helps American jobs. [It's] much better for European energy needs to be satisfied by American natural gas, that creates jobs here in America rather than fueling Putin's military aggression.\"\nWatch Sen. Cruz's full interview here.\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://www.cruz.senate.gov?p=press_release&id=4826", "Sens. Cruz, Johnson Put Company Installing Putin's Pipeline on Formal Legal Notice", "2019-12-18", "2019", "2019-12", "Republican", "House", "TX", "Ted Cruz", "C001098", "www.cruz.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today sent a letter to the CEO of Allseas Group S.A. (Allseas), the company currently engaged in installing deep-sea pipes for Russia's Nord Stream 2. In the letter, the senators warn Allseas that as soon as President Trump signs the FY20 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) - which includes Sec. 7503, Sen. Cruz's bipartisan legislation to stop the Nord Stream 2 - it risks crippling sanctions that could devastate the financial viability of the company.\nAs the senators wrote:\n\"This letter is to put you, your employees, your company, and your shareholders on formal legal notice. This legislation was passed specifically to immediately halt your company's work on Nord Stream 2. The only responsible course of action is for Allseas Group S.A. and its employees to stop Nord Stream 2 activities immediately. \n\"We understand that Russia is paying Allseas a very substantial amount of money to complete the Nord Stream 2 pipeline. However, the consequences of your company continuing to do the work-for even a single day after the President signs the sanctions legislation-would expose your company to crushing and potentially fatal legal and economic sanctions.\"\nThey added:\n\"Section 7503 was the product of almost a year of bipartisan, bicameral, and interbranch efforts aimed at immediately stopping the construction of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline. It requires the President to report on and impose sanctions against individuals and companies that have \"sold, leased, or provided\" vessels that \"engaged in pipe-laying at depths of 100 feet or more below sea level for the construction of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline project.\" There is no discretion. It also mandates sanctions against foreign persons or companies that seek to circumvent those prohibitions by \"facilitat[ing] deceptive or structured transactions to provide those vessels for the construction\" of the pipeline.   \"The prohibitions are immediate, and the sanctions are mandatory. [...] Although the report is due in 60 days, your legal exposure is immediate from the moment of signing.\"\nAs they outline in the letter, these devastating sanctions include:\n \nBlocking all assets in U.S. jurisdiction, including their U.S. headquarters in Houston, TX\nCutting Allseas off from U.S. markets\nBlocking transactions with anyone in the U.S. or anyone using the U.S. financial system\nDenying key leaders in the company visas to enter the U.S.\n \nThis morning, Sen. Cruz joined Maria Bartiromo on Fox Business to discuss the impact of these crippling sanctions and stopping Nord Stream 2. There he said:\n\"We just had a massive bipartisan foreign policy victory, which is in the National Defense Authorization Act-just passed the Senate yesterday. It's on the president's desk for signature right now. And what it does is it's designed to stop the Nord Stream 2 pipeline. That's a pipeline, a natural gas pipeline from Russia to Germany. It's nearly complete. There is right now-there are only five companies on Earth that are capable of building that pipeline. Russia has hired one, a Swiss company named AllSeas. I'm sending today a letter to AllSeas' CEO informing him that under these sanctions, AllSeas has a choice-they either cease construction the day the president signs that bill which is likely to be sometime this week, or they risk crushing sanctions that could put AllSeas out of business forever. The sanctions we're passing - it's my bill, that I got Democrats on board, brought together, the House, the Senate, everyone we passed these sanctions. And what it is designed to do, AllSeas has a ship, the Pioneering Spirit, that's right now laying this pipeline. AllSeas needs to instruct the ship's captain to set sail for other waters, because if they don't, they'll put the company out of business.\"\nHe added:\n\"This pipeline if it's completed, what it would do, it would generate billions of dollars for Putin. And Putin would use that to continue Russia's military aggressiveness. It would make Europe even more dependent on Russian energy, and that makes Europe susceptible to economic blackmail. [...] By stopping this pipeline, by getting the sanction's legislation passed, that will hurt Putin, it will take billions away from him, it will help Europe, it helps Ukraine enormously, and it helps American jobs. [It's] much better for European energy needs to be satisfied by American natural gas, that creates jobs here in America rather than fueling Putin's military aggression.\"\nRead the full letter here and below.\nLearn more about Nord Stream 2 here and here.\nWatch Sen. Cruz's remarks on the Senate floor on the inclusion of his bipartisan legislation to stop Nord Stream 2 in the NDAA here.\nDecember 18, 2019\nEdward Heerema  Chief Executive Officer, Allseas Group  Route de Pra de Plan 18, Case Postale 411  1618 Chtel-Saint-Denis  Switzerland Dear Mr. Heerema, This week, President Trump will sign into law the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2020. Section 7503 of that Act mandates that the President impose broad sanctions on foreign persons or companies involved in providing vessels for the installation of deep-sea pipeline for the Nord Stream 2 project. As of his signature, those activities are instantaneously subject to the full force of those sanctions.\nThis letter is to put you, your employees, your company, and your shareholders on formal legal notice. This legislation was passed specifically to immediately halt your company's work on Nord Stream 2. The only responsible course of action is for Allseas Group S.A. and its employees to stop Nord Stream 2 activities immediately.\nWe understand that Russia is paying Allseas a very substantial amount of money to complete the Nord Stream 2 pipeline. However, the consequences of your company continuing to do the work-for even a single day after the President signs the sanctions legislation-would expose your company to crushing and potentially fatal legal and economic sanctions.\nYour contract surely contains an avenue to withdraw in the event regulations or sanctions prevent completion of the pipeline; with the passage of the NDAA, you have no reasonable choice but to exercise that avenue and immediately halt installing deep-sea pipeline for the Nord Stream 2 project. Section 7503 was the product of almost a year of bipartisan, bicameral, and interbranch efforts aimed at immediately stopping the construction of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline. It requires the President to report on and impose sanctions against individuals and companies that have \"sold, leased, or provided\" vessels that \"engaged in pipe-laying at depths of 100 feet or more below sea level for the construction of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline project.\" There is no discretion. It also mandates sanctions against foreign persons or companies that seek to circumvent those prohibitions by \"facilitat[ing] deceptive or structured transactions to provide those vessels for the construction\" of the pipeline. The prohibitions are immediate, and the sanctions are mandatory. Prohibited activities became sanctionable \"beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act,\" i.e. when the President signs the NDAA, and the \"the President shall\" designate violators.  Under the sanctions in Sec. 7503, violators will be fully cut off from the United States and have any and all assets within the U.S. blocked for 5 years. Any individual designated will be denied the issuance of a visa required for admission to the U.S. and will have any current visa or entry documentation revoked. Moreover, for both individuals and companies, the President is required to exercise all powers granted to him by the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) \"to block and prohibit all transactions in all property and interests in property\" to the extent they \"are in the United States, come within the United States, or come within the possession or control of a United States person.\"  Allseas has several vessels that, according to materials published by the Nord Stream 2 project, are engaged in the project: the construction vessel Pioneering Spirit (IMO: 9593505, MMSI: 249110000, Call Sign: 9HA4112), the pipelay vessel Solitaire (IMO: 7129049, MMSI: 249118000, Call Sign: 9HA4114), and the pipelay vessel Audacia (IMO: 9305130, MMSI: 249117000, Call Sign: 9HA4111). The Pioneering Spirit and Solitaire are currently in the Baltic Sea, and at least the Pioneering Spirit is engaged in deep-sea pipe-laying activities that are now sanctionable.\nIf you violate the sanctions legislation, and your vessels enter U.S. jurisdiction, those vessels will become frozen assets. Allseas and its key personnel who knowingly sell, lease, or provide those vessels for the Nord Stream 2 project will be sanctioned if those activities do not cease immediately. For the next half decade your company and those personnel will be entirely barred from the U.S. In the meantime, any transactions they attempt to conduct with anyone who is in the U.S. or using the U.S. financial system will be blocked. Moreover, all property you have within our jurisdiction will be frozen, including assets related to Allseas USA headquartered in Houston, TX, any financial assets in U.S. banks, and any physical vessels or materials owned by Allseas that come into the U.S. It is important to reemphasize the immediacy required by Sec. 7503, because this aspect of the legislation has been broadly misunderstood and misreported. In two months, the President will report to Congress if Allseas ceased engaging in sanctionable activities and, if you did not, you will be sanctioned. Although the report is due in 60 days, your legal exposure is immediate from the moment of signing.\nTo be sure, there is a 30-day \"wind-down\" period for which the President has the option of not imposing sanctions, but to exercise that option the President must certify to Congress that Allseas \"engaged in good faith efforts to wind down operations.\" Rushing to finish the Nord Stream 2 project over that time would foreclose the possibility of that certification.\nIf you were to attempt to finish the pipeline in the next 30 days, you would devastate your shareholders' value and destroy the future financial viability of your company. And, you would surely face billions of dollars in shareholder derivative suits for your breach of fiduciary duty.\nYou face a binary choice: stop NOW, and leave the pipeline unfinished (the express intention of the sanctions legislation, which we authored), or make a foolish attempt to rush to complete the pipeline and risk putting your company out of business forever. The U.S. government knows that the Nord Stream 2 pipeline is near completion and considers it a grave threat to European energy security and American national security. Top officials from the State and Treasury Departments have repeatedly emphasized the gravity of those threats and sought to forestall them. Sec. 7503 represents a whole-of-government approach to ensuring that the pipeline remains uncompleted and those threats are never realized.  It's time for the Pioneering Spirit and Solitaire to find other waters in which to sail. Sincerely,\n/s/\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://www.cruz.senate.gov?p=press_release&id=4827", "Sens. Cruz, Cornyn Request Briefing from Defense Secretary on Housing at JSBA, Fort Hood", "2019-12-18", "2019", "2019-12", "Republican", "House", "TX", "Ted Cruz", "C001098", "www.cruz.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and John Cornyn (R-Texas) today sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of Defense Mark Esper to request a briefing on current initiatives to improve military housing in light of recent complaints of mold, lead, and a failure to address maintenance requests at military installations such as Joint Base San Antonio and Fort Hood.\nThey wrote:\n\"Representing over a dozen military installations in Texas that provide for the nation's defense, we believe it is critical that DoD ensures service members and their families have access to quality housing. It is unacceptable that our service members have to worry about the safety of their families in on-post or off-post housing. We therefore request a briefing regarding the DoD's plans for implementing housing provisions included in the FY20 NDAA and current initiatives to address identified shortcomings at bases such as Joint Base San Antonio and Ft. Hood.\"   In the letter, the senators also note that Congress passed the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020 (NDAA FY20), which includes provisions to establish a tenant bill of rights, a standardized assessment tool for evaluating military housing for risks such as lead and mold, and guidelines for a dispute resolution process. You can view the signed letter here, and text is below. The Honorable Mark T. Esper  Secretary of Defense  U.S. Department of Defense  1000 Defense Pentagon  Washington, D.C. 20301-1000 Dear Secretary Esper: We are writing to urge the Department of Defense (DoD) to expeditiously implement provisions of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020 (FY20 NDAA) regarding military family housing and request a briefing on current DoD initiatives to alleviate military housing issues.  For the past year, service members across the country, including those in Texas, have suffered from unsafe living conditions, substandard maintenance, and, in select cases, retaliation for filing complaints about their on-post privatized housing.  The readiness of our service members stems directly from the ability to support their family members.  We are concerned that substandard housing detracts from the training and preparation necessary to ensure our soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines remain ready to execute any given mission necessary for the defense of our country.   In 1996, DoD established the Military Housing Privatization Initiative to improve dire housing conditions for service members by allowing private companies to administer family housing on military bases.  Recently, reports from service members  have highlighted unacceptable issues in privatized on-post housing ranging from mold to lead contamination.  Furthermore, many service members report that maintenance services are unresponsive and inadequate.  Maintenance personnel allegedly routinely close out work orders without remediating the problem, forcing families to submit multiple work orders for a single maintenance issue.     Over the past year, our offices have engaged in multiple discussions with service component leadership, met with installation leadership, and discussed directly with service members to ensure that this issue is addressed expeditiously.  Additionally, the FY20 NDAA implements the most substantial overhaul of the Privatized Military Housing initiative since its creation in 1996.  It requires the services to establish a tenant bill of rights, a standardized assessment tool for evaluating military housing risks such as lead and mold, and a dispute resolution process which allows the withholding of Basic Allowance  for Housing until the dispute is resolved.  While we believe these provisions are a step in the right direction, there is ultimately no replacement for engaged military leadership, both now and moving forward as the services begin implementation of these provisions.   Representing over a dozen military installations in Texas that provide for the nation's defense, we believe it is critical that DoD ensures service members and their families have access to quality housing. It is unacceptable that our service members have to worry about the safety of their families in on-post or off-post housing. We therefore request a briefing regarding the DoD's plans for implementing housing provisions included in the FY20 NDAA and current initiatives to address identified shortcomings at bases such as Joint Base San Antonio and Ft. Hood. Thank you for your leadership and attention to this issue. Sincerely,\n/s/\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://www.cruz.senate.gov?p=press_release&id=4829", "Sen. Cruz Delivers Remarks on Senate Floor Urging Immediate Release of Americans Austin Tice, CITGO 6", "2019-12-18", "2019", "2019-12", "Republican", "House", "TX", "Ted Cruz", "C001098", "www.cruz.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today delivered remarks on the Senate floor to renew his call for the immediate release of Americans Austin Tice, a veteran Marine Corps Captain and Texan, who has been kidnaped and detained in Syria, and the six CITGO executives, five of whom are Texans, who have been unjustly imprisoned in Venezuela. Sen. Cruz said:\n\"Mr. President, I rise today to talk about one of the most complicated areas where our diplomats have to engage -- when brutal regimes and terrorist groups seize Americans and use them as hostages, hoping to extract concessions from our government. These are situations that are infuriating and they are heartbreaking, and at the same time they are immensely complicated. There are no easy solutions when dealing with hostage takers.\n\"We know what doesn't work. We know that paying ransom for hostages, as the Obama administration did with Iran to the tune of billions of dollars, only incentivizes more hostage taking.\n\"It is exactly the behavior you would expect from hostage takers, and it's exactly the behavior that we've seen play out over and over again.\n\"My colleagues and I, along the Trump administration, have sought other ways of securing the release of American hostages. Sometimes what's called for is diplomatic pressure. And so early in my tenure in the Senate, the very first bill that I passed into law was legislation that kept Iranian regime figures who had seized American hostages in 1979 from receiving diplomatic visas to come into the United States.\n\"I also recently joined with Sen. Cotton to introduce the Global Hostage Act, a bill that would require the president to impose sanctions on foreign government officials responsible for taking Americans hostage. The Trump administration recently secured the release of Americans held hostage in Iran, without the need for pallets of cash flown in in the darkness of night.\n\"Nevertheless, all of these solutions are imperfect, and so it is no surprise that even in countries where we enjoy successes, those successes are often heartbreakingly partial, with hostages left behind. Today I want to talk about two countries specifically where Americans from my home state of Texas are languishing today.\n\"In Syria, we have seen some Americans released, while others remain away from their families. This summer, American Sam Goodwin and Canadian Kristian Baxter were released by captors in Syria, which were joyful developments on their own and encouraging signs of progress.\n\"But Austin Tice remains in captivity, after more than seven agonizing years. Austin is a Texan and a veteran Marine Corps Captain who served our country in Iraq and Afghanistan, and he was working as a freelance journalist to inform Americans about the horror of the Syrian conflict when he was captured.\n\"I've repeatedly had the opportunity to sit down and visit with Austin's parents, Marc and Debra. Austin's picture sits on my desk, here in my Senate office. And I remain committed to working with President Trump, with the Trump administration, with my colleagues here in Congress, to bring Austin home.\n\"I joined with 51 Senators and 120 Representatives to write a letter to President Trump affirming that \"the Tice family and your own administration are confident that Austin is alive\" and calling on President Trump to redouble our country's efforts to bring him home. No one should doubt the entire U.S. government's commitment to this task.\n\"Secondly, in Venezuela we have also seen partial progress, but partial progress of a different sort. In the case of the CITGO 6 - five American citizens and one permanent American resident - they have been released from jail, which is a good thing, but they remain under house arrest.\n\"So, while Jose Luis Zambrano, Alirio Zambrano, Jorge Toledo, Gustavo Cardenas, Tomeu Vadell, and Jose Angel Pereira are no longer under the constant threat of dying from abuse and neglect, they are still very much held captive and away from their loved ones.\n\"Today, here in the gallery - Gabriela and Alirio Rafael, the daughter and the brother of Aliro Zambrano. These five Texans and one Louisianan are now two years into their nightmarish journey. They had been summoned to Caracas a week shy of Thanksgiving and upon their arrival, they were summarily detained, and remained in jail on orders of the Venezuelan military. They would go days without food and months without sunlight, but the random punishments were nothing if not persistent.\n\"I have met members of the CITGO 6 families many times. Alexandra Forseth, Alirio Zambrano's daughter, shared with me haunting accounts that came from her father. He described exactly how harrowing the experience has been, and the physical toll that it has taken.\n\"These families have left no stones unturned in their efforts to bring back their loved ones. They have hired lawyers who have grappled with the shifting and inadequate legal institutions in Venezuela, and they have found little recourse.\n\"After years of this literal darkness, just last week, the CITGO 6 were released to house arrest. This is progress. It is undeniable progress. But it is far from enough, and here too we must redouble our efforts to ensure their full release, to ensure they can come home to America.\n\"Every effort must be made to bring them back to the United States, to their families, to their children, to their homes.\n\"Sergio Cardenas, the son of Gustavo Cardenas, was born with a rare disease and at the age of 17, he is battling chronic congestive heart failure. The doctors and his family are gravely concerned that he will never see his father.\n\"Jose Toledo's mother is severely handicapped and requires constant medical attention and care. Alirio and Jose Luis both have teenage daughters currently in high school. These families are waiting for their fathers, for their sons, for their husbands to come home.\n\"Venezuela has a seat on the United Nations Human Rights Council. If human rights mean anything, it is that citizens of all countries are entitled to speedy due process and that human rights violations must have human rights remedies. The CITGO 6 have suffered enough. It is past time for them to be released back to their families.\n\"Let me finally say, I believe that the light of truth - calling attention to these human rights atrocities - can overcome the darkness of imprisonment. The voices of the families and the voices of those who speak out on their behalf, resonate and resonate loudly. And those who are keeping Americans wrongfully imprisoned, who are committing evil, should know that we will not give up. We will not rest until these Americans are set free.\"\nWatch Sen. Cruz's floor speech here.\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://www.cruz.senate.gov?p=video&id=4824", "Cruz on Fox Business with Maria Bartiromo: Dems' Impeachment Attempts Are Political Gesture of Anger", "2019-12-18", "2019", "2019-12", "Republican", "House", "TX", "Ted Cruz", "C001098", "www.cruz.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Central TX \n\t\t\t\t\t(512) 916-5834  300 E 8th  Suite 961  Austin, TX 78701  Email\n\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t North TX \n\t\t\t\t\t(214) 599-8749  Lee Park Tower II  3626 N. Hall St.  Suite 410  Dallas, TX 75219  Email\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t Southeast TX \n\t\t\t\t\t(713) 718-3057  The Mickey Leland Federal Building  1919 Smith Street  Suite 9047  Houston, TX 77002\nEmail\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t South/Cen. TX \n\t\t\t\t\t(210) 340-2885  9901 IH-10W  Suite 950  San Antonio, TX 78230  Email\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t East TX \n\t\t\t\t\t(903) 593-5130305 S. Broadway  Suite 501  Tyler, TX 75702  Email\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t South TX \n\t\t\t\t\t(956) 686-7339   200 S. 10th St   Suite 1603   McAllen, TX 78501   Email\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t Washington, D.C. \n\t\t\t\t\t(202) 224-5922  127A Russell  Washington, DC 20510  Contact", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["http://www.cruz.senate.gov?p=video&id=4828", "ICYMI Sen. Cruz on the Senate Floor: Demands Immediate Release of Austin Tice & CITGO 6", "2019-12-18", "2019", "2019-12", "Republican", "House", "TX", "Ted Cruz", "C001098", "www.cruz.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Central TX \n\t\t\t\t\t(512) 916-5834  300 E 8th  Suite 961  Austin, TX 78701  Email\n\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t North TX \n\t\t\t\t\t(214) 599-8749  Lee Park Tower II  3626 N. Hall St.  Suite 410  Dallas, TX 75219  Email\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t Southeast TX \n\t\t\t\t\t(713) 718-3057  The Mickey Leland Federal Building  1919 Smith Street  Suite 9047  Houston, TX 77002\nEmail\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t South/Cen. TX \n\t\t\t\t\t(210) 340-2885  9901 IH-10W  Suite 950  San Antonio, TX 78230  Email\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t East TX \n\t\t\t\t\t(903) 593-5130305 S. Broadway  Suite 501  Tyler, TX 75702  Email\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t South TX \n\t\t\t\t\t(956) 686-7339   200 S. 10th St   Suite 1603   McAllen, TX 78501   Email\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t Washington, D.C. \n\t\t\t\t\t(202) 224-5922  127A Russell  Washington, DC 20510  Contact", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://arrington.house.gov/2019/12/arrington-speaks-in-opposition-to-articles-of-impeachment-against-president-trump/", "Arrington Speaks in Opposition to Articles of Impeachment Against President Trump", "2019-12-18", "2019", "2019-12", "Republican", "House", "TX", "Jodey Arrington", "A000375", "arrington.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Arrington Speaks in Opposition to Articles of Impeachment Against President Trump \n\t\t\t\t\tDecember 18, 2019\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tWASHINGTON Today, Congressman Jodey Arrington (TX-19) spoke on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives, joining colleagues from both parties in opposing the Articles of Impeachment against President Donald J. Trump.\nToday, many of my Democrat colleagues will be making history, unfortunately, for supporting the first-ever, completely partisan impeachment of a President of the United States, said Arrington.\nMr. Speaker, I am deeply disturbed that history will indeed be made today in this hallowed chamber  but, for all the wrong reasons. Not for love of country, but hatred for a political foe. Not to pursue justice, but to punish a political adversary. Not to seek truth, but to seize political power.\nFor the love of country, I urge my colleagues to oppose this disastrous political ruse.\nWATCH CONGRESSMAN ARRINGTON'S FULL REMARKS:", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://arrington.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=78", "Arrington Speaks in Opposition to Articles of Impeachment Against President Trump", "2019-12-18", "2019", "2019-12", "Republican", "House", "TX", "Jodey C. Arrington", "A000375", "arrington.house.gov", "arrington", "https://arrington.house.gov/news/documentquery.aspx?DocumentTypeID=27", "scraper", "Today, Congressman Jodey Arrington (TX-19) spoke on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives, joining colleagues from both parties in opposing the Articles of Impeachment against President Donald J. Trump. \u201cToday, many of my Democrat colleagues will be making history, unfortunately, for supporting the first-ever, completely partisan impeachment of a President of the United States,\u201d said Arrington. \u201cMr. Speaker, I am deeply disturbed that history will indeed be made today in this hallowed chamber \u2013 but, for all the wrong reasons. Not for love of country, but hatred for a political foe. Not to pursue justice, but to punish a political adversary. Not to seek truth, but to seize political power.\u201d \u201cFor the love of country, I urge my colleagues to oppose this disastrous political ruse.\u201d WATCH CONGRESSMAN ARRINGTON\u2019S FULL REMARKS:", 1, "2026-04-07T12:09:11Z", "2026-06-27T23:45:33Z"], ["https://babin.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=5352", "Babin Votes No on Impeachment", "2019-12-18", "2019", "2019-12", "Republican", "House", "TX", "Brian Babin", "B001291", "babin.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Babin Votes No on Impeachment \r\n    \r\n     \r\n\r\n  \r\n  \r\n    \r\n      Washington,\r\n      December 18, 2019\r\n    \r\n    \r\n    \r\n    \r\n  \r\n  \r\n\r\n  \r\n\r\n  \r\n  \r\n  \r\n\r\n  \r\n    \r\n      WASHINGTON, DC U.S. Congressman Brian Babin (TX-36) released the following statement after voting against the articles of impeachment brought to the floor of the House of Representatives tonight.\r\nToday was a dark day in American history, said Rep. Babin. House Democrats have shamefully voted to remove President Donald Trump from office with zero concrete evidence of any wrongdoing. Speaker Pelosi's legacy will be forever stained by the only partisan impeachment vote in U.S. history  despite promising the American people that if the House was going to vote on impeachment there must be overwhelming evidence and bipartisan support. \r\nBecause Democratic leadership has bowed to their radical left wing, they are willing to make all future Presidential elections invalid until judged worthy by the majority in the House of Representatives. Our founders never intended for impeachment to be used as a political weapon or an alternative to election results. \r\nWe are a democratic, constitutional republic in which power flows from We the People' to our President and elected representatives. The President does not serve at the pleasure of the United States Congress. He serves at the pleasure of the American people. \r\nI look forward to watching this disgraceful charade die in the U.S. Senate so that all of Congress can finally get back to the work of the American people.\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://carter.house.gov/index.cfm?sectionid=40&itemid=2445", "Carter Statement on Impeachment of President Donald Trump", "2019-12-18", "2019", "2019-12", "Republican", "House", "TX", "John Carter", "C001051", "carter.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "(Washington, DC) Representative John Carter (TX-31) released the following statement after voting against both of the Democrats' articles of impeachment.\r\n\r\n\tIt is a fundamental ideal of our republic that every American receives justice under the law. As Members of Congress, we are required to uphold that ideal and as a former judge, I was tasked with the same responsibility. I find that this entire impeachment process has lacked impartiality,respect for theConstitutionand justice. When I was on the bench, I instructed every jury the same way. I told them, what someone heard from another source other than what they directly observed is not evidence. The evidence presented by the House Majority in this case was hearsay. In fact, the most substantial direct evidence is the transcript of the President's telephone call, which did not prove an impeachable offense.\r\n\r\n\tWhile the Democrats try torewrite their history,the truth is that the impeachment of President Trump began the day he was inaugurated.In fact, 17 of the 24 Democratic members on the House Judiciary Committee voted to impeach President Trump well before the phone call with the Ukraine President even occurred.The last month of impeachment hearings have been political theatredesigned to present hearsay and rumors as facts.Make no mistake, today's vote isn't aboutjustice, or upholdingthe rule of law, this is politics.\r\n\r\n\tThe Constitution is clear  treason, bribery, or high crimes and misdemeanors are impeachable offenses. The evidence presented does not meet those standards required by the supreme law of the land. Impeachment is one of the most serious acts that Congress will undertake, it should not be taken lightly or used to strong-arm those you disagree with politically. It's irresponsible that theDemocrats haveweaponized the impeachmentprocess to appease their base, and their behavior over the last three years is the very behaviorthe Founding Fathers warned us about. Fortunately,I have no doubt that the American peoplerecognize Democrats' antics, and they will not easily forget.Today istruly a sad day forjustice.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://castro.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/castro-floor-speech-ahead-house-impeachment-vote", "Castro Floor Speech Ahead of House Impeachment Vote", "2019-12-18", "2019", "2019-12", "Democrat", "House", "TX", "Joaqu\u00edn Castro", "C001091", "castro.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTONCongressman Joaquin Castro (TX-20), Chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, Vice Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and a member of the House Intelligence and Education and Labor Committees, today delivered the following remarks on the House floor ahead of the House of Representative's historic vote to impeach the President of the United States:\nThank you. As my colleagues have said, the evidence of the President's abuse of power and obstruction of Congress is uncontested.\nBut let's outline a few key events involving the nearly $400 million in military aid that was held up by President Trump and for President Trump, despite congressional mandate.\nThe summer of 2019 was the summer of shame at The White House. On July 3rd, The White House first blocks security assistance money for Ukraine, with no explanation. On July 10th, Gordon Sondland states during a White House meeting with Ukrainian officials that President Zelensky would get a White House meeting only after announcing an investigation into Trump's political rival. On July 18th, a White House staffer announces the freeze on Ukrainian aid, per a direct Presidential order. And just one day after Robert Mueller's testimony before Congress, President Trump makes the now infamous phone call with Zelensky, asking him to investigate the Bidens,\nThen things start to fall apart. See, The White House learns that a whistleblower has reported President Trump's phone call with President Zelensky in a complaint. And on September 9th, Congress then starts to investigate the President's actions.\nAnd then the jig is up. On September 11th, the aid is suddenly released, without explanation, over two months later.\nWhen you read the call transcript and follow the timeline I've laid out, guilty is guilty. Nothing changed during that time regarding the President's supposed concerns over corruption. So, let's be clear  the military aid was released because the President got caught.\nBut getting caught doesn't get you off the hook. And I ask my colleagues  is attempted murder a crime? Is attempted robbery a crime? Is attempted extortion and bribery by a President a crime?\nYes, it is.\nThe only question now is whether we will find the moral courage to stand up for our country and impeach the President of the United States.\nI yield back.\nFor a link to the full speech, click here.\n# # #", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://conaway.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=399683", "Conaway: Impeachment Should Not Be a Political Weapon", "2019-12-18", "2019", "2019-12", "Republican", "House", "TX", "K. Conaway", "C001062", "conaway.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Conaway: Impeachment Should Not Be a Political Weapon \r\n   \r\n    \r\n       \r\n      \r\n  \r\n    \r\n      f \r\n      t \r\n      #\r\n      e\r\n      \r\n      \r\n    \r\n    \r\n      \r\n        Washington,\r\n        December 18, 2019\r\n      \r\n       \r\n    \r\n  \r\n  \r\n  \r\n  \r\n  \r\n      \r\n    \r\n  \r\n  \r\n    \r\n      \r\n      \r\n      Tonight, the House of Representatives voted to approve two articles of impeachment against President Donald J. Trump. Congressman Mike Conaway (TX-11) released the following statement after voting against both articles of impeachment:This is a historic and somber day in the House of Representatives, said Congressman Conaway. Unfortunately, many of my colleagues have diminished what should be a solemn and grave proceeding into an absolute political circus, simply because they don't like the man occupying the White House. Many Democrats have been intent on impeaching this President since the day he took office. Their actions are clearly motivated by pure hatred for President Trump. Most importantly, we have not been presented with any real evidence that proves the president is guilty of high crimes and misdemeanors,' and the Democrats' articles of impeachment notably omit any mention of an actual crime.  We have forever weakened this body by turning impeachment into a political weapon, which will surely have negative ramifications far beyond this president. The American people see right through this charade, and are fed up.  Watch Congressman Conaway's full remarks on the House Floor here.\r\n\r\n    \r\n  \r\n  \r\n  \r\n    \r\n      f \r\n      t \r\n      #\r\n      e", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://crenshaw.house.gov/2019/12/crenshaw-statement-on-house-voting-to-impeach-the-president", "Crenshaw Statement on House Voting to Impeach the President", "2019-12-18", "2019", "2019-12", "Republican", "House", "TX", "Dan Crenshaw", "C001120", "crenshaw.house.gov", "crenshaw", "https://crenshaw.house.gov/press-releases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, DC \u2013 Congressman Dan Crenshaw released the following statement and video regarding tonight\u2019s vote to impeach President Donald Trump:\n\n\u201cTonight\u2019s vote cements Democrats\u2019 true intentions since day one of Trump\u2019s presidency: removing him from office.\n\n\u201cCongress has wasted three months with biased, opaque impeachment proceedings that resulted in hearsay, assumptions and hollow allegations. During this time, Democrats allowed important legislative priorities \u2013 like national security, USMCA, an infrastructure package, improved border security, defense spending and more \u2013 to become an afterthought.\n\n\u201cThis is a sad, irresponsible, blatantly partisan move by Democrats who, sadly, have put their political dreams ahead of the well-being of the American people. I hope this day will be remembered in the history books for what it really is \u2013 a partisan vote on the thinnest, weakest, fastest case for impeachment since our nation\u2019s founding.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:45:33Z"], ["https://crenshaw.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=187", "Crenshaw Statement on House Voting to Impeach the President", "2019-12-18", "2019", "2019-12", "Republican", "House", "TX", "Dan Crenshaw", "C001120", "crenshaw.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Crenshaw Statement on House Voting to Impeach the President\r\nWASHINGTON, DC Congressman Dan Crenshaw released the following statement and video regarding tonight's vote to impeach President Donald Trump:\r\nTonight's vote cements Democrats' true intentions since day one of Trump's presidency: removing him from office.\r\nCongress has wasted three months with biased, opaque impeachment proceedings that resulted in hearsay, assumptions and hollow allegations. During this time, Democrats allowed important legislative priorities  like national security, USMCA, an infrastructure package, improved border security, defense spending and more  to become an afterthought.\r\nThis is a sad, irresponsible, blatantly partisan move by Democrats who, sadly, have put their political dreams ahead of the well-being of the American people. I hope this day will be remembered in the history books for what it really is  a partisan vote on the thinnest, weakest, fastest case for impeachment since our nation's founding.\r\n\r\n\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://crenshaw.house.gov/press-releases?ID=E2C3D155-2CEF-44DA-85C5-10407B39B60A", "Crenshaw Statement on House Voting to Impeach the President", "2019-12-18", "2019", "2019-12", "Republican", "House", "TX", "Dan Crenshaw", "C001120", "crenshaw.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON, DC \u2013 Congressman Dan Crenshaw released the following statement and video regarding tonight\u2019s vote to impeach President Donald Trump:\n\n\u201cTonight\u2019s vote cements Democrats\u2019 true intentions since day one of Trump\u2019s presidency: removing him from office.\n\n\u201cCongress has wasted three months with biased, opaque impeachment proceedings that resulted in hearsay, assumptions and hollow allegations. During this time, Democrats allowed important legislative priorities \u2013 like national security, USMCA, an infrastructure package, improved border security, defense spending and more \u2013 to become an afterthought.\n\n\u201cThis is a sad, irresponsible, blatantly partisan move by Democrats who, sadly, have put their political dreams ahead of the well-being of the American people. I hope this day will be remembered in the history books for what it really is \u2013 a partisan vote on the thinnest, weakest, fastest case for impeachment since our nation\u2019s founding.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-06-27T23:45:33Z"], ["https://doggett.house.gov/media-center/in-the-news/san-antonio-express-news-op-ed-doggett-why-i-am-voting-impeach-president", "San Antonio Express News Op-ed: Doggett: Why I am voting to impeach the president", "2019-12-18", "2019", "2019-12", "Democrat", "House", "TX", "Lloyd Doggett", "D000399", "doggett.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Today, the U.S. House of Representatives will impeach President Donald Trump. Allegiance to our Constitution, not one party, not one person, mandates impeachment. No one, not even the president, is above the law.\n\tWhile most of our neighbors may already have made up their minds on this issue, I feel a personal duty not only to uphold the Constitution but also to fully inform you why I have made this momentous decision.\n\tThe impeachment inquiry has never been a whodunit. Trump confessed he did it. His own appointees confirmed it. Then his chief of staff told Americans to get used to his misconduct.\n\tOur choice is clear  between the sworn testimony of patriotic military and foreign service officers, who selflessly risked their careers, and a president engaged in selfish wrongdoing.\n\tSan Antonians understand: Your word is your bond. You wouldn't accept less from a mayor or school trustee.\n\tTruth matters. Despite video of Trump seeking help from Russia, China and Ukraine, and despite official notes showing his request for Ukraine to do a personal, political favor in return for releasing desperately needed military aid, Republican colleagues reflexively support his claim of having done nothing wrong.\n\tThe president's hand-picked EU ambassador, Gordon Sondland, who donated $1 million to Trump's presidential inaugural committee, when asked, Was there a quid pro quo? responded, The answer is yes.\n\tRepublicans insist on ignoring all of this, contending that Trump's claim of a perfect call represents the sole proof required. I think his call and related conduct was perfectly wrong.\n\tIf any of the many people familiar with his conduct, including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, former national security adviser John Bolton and former Energy Secretary Rick Perry, had evidence to establish his innocence, Trump would have urged their testimony. Instead, he uniformly denied access to both witnesses and documents, relying exclusively upon character assassination and witness intimidation.\n\tNone of those who did testify disagreed on the essential facts. Rather than offering any real defense, congressional Republicans attacked patriotic public servants, including a military officer who literally bled in defense of our nation, and Trump's own appointees, who simply told the horrible truth of what they observed. Meanwhile, Trump branded any fellow Republican who deviated from him as human scum.\n\tThree critical issues are at stake here. First, can our democracy survive if Trump's expansive view of his power is upheld? He insists that he is constitutionally empowered to do whatever he wants, that while president he can neither be investigated nor prosecuted for any type of crime, and, further, that he can ignore any impeachment proceeding of which he disapproves. These are the claims of a wannabe tyrant. All of this as the president extols autocrats from Istanbul to Manila to Moscow.\n\tSuch a totally unrestrained president would change America forever. Our founders developed a system of checks and balances to protect us from an all-powerful executive. We elect a president, not a king. The standard that we set now applies to all future presidents.\n\tSecond, can the president use taxpayer money for personal gain? The White House call memo indicates that in response to the Ukrainian president's interest in acquiring additional U.S. weapons, Trump said: I would like you to do us a favor, though.\n\tTrump wielded the full force of the presidency not to protect America but solely to advance his reelection. Interfering with our national security  compromising the integrity of our elections  for personal gain represents an abuse of power and betrayal of his oath of office.\n\tThird, will we adopt a policy of open borders to permit foreigners to decide our elections? Foreign nations have their own agendas, especially adversaries such as China and Russia. I believe that American citizens should be the only ones deciding our future. We cannot allow the president to invite foreign interference in elections or we will never again have a truly free election. And without free elections, we are no longer free.\n\tTo those who say, Just wait, be mindful that Trump has been clear that he will continue asking for additional foreign election assistance in order to win the 2020 election.\n\tRep. Barbara Jordan, explaining her vote to impeach President Richard Nixon, said: My faith in the Constitution is whole, it is complete, it is total. I am not going to sit here and be an idle spectator to the diminution, the subversion, the destruction of the Constitution.\n\tNeither can we sit idly by. We act now, recognizing the solemn responsibility to safeguard our national security and our constitutional system of government.\n\tDemocratic U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett represents San Antonio.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://doggett.house.gov/media-center/in-the-news/san-marcos-daily-record-op-ed-doggett-impeachment-not-about-personal", "San Marcos Daily Record Op-ed: Doggett: Impeachment not about personal differences but preservation of democracy", "2019-12-18", "2019", "2019-12", "Democrat", "House", "TX", "Lloyd Doggett", "D000399", "doggett.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Some Hays County residents like Donald Trump. I respect their choice, though I respectfully and strongly disagree. But policies and personalities are not at issue in my vote this week to impeach the President.\n\t\t\tThe sole consideration is the preservation of our democratic form of government and our national security under our Constitution.\n\t\t\tWhile most people may have already made up their minds about this, I feel a personal duty to fully inform you why I made this momentous decision.\n\t\t\tThis inquiry has never been a whodunit. Trump confessed he did it. His own appointees confirmed it. Then his chief of staff told Americans to get used to his misconduct.\n\t\t\tSan Marcos values integrity. Your word is your bond still has meaning. You wouldn't accept less from a mayor or school trustee. The same should apply to the President. Here, we have a clear choice between the sworn testimony of patriotic military and foreign service officers, who selflessly risked their careers, versus a President engaged in selfish wrongdoing.\n\t\t\tTruth matters. Despite video of Trump seeking help from Russia, China, and Ukrainedespite official notes showing his request for Ukraine to do a personal, political favor in return for releasing desperately needed military aidRepublican colleagues reflexively support his claim of having done nothing wrong.\n\t\t\tThe President's hand-picked EU Ambassador, Gordon Sondland, who had donated $1 million to Trump, when asked, Was there a quid pro quo? responded, The answer is yes. Some insist on ignoring all of this, contending that Trump's claim of a perfect call represents the sole proof required.\n\t\t\tI think his call and related conduct was perfectly wrong.\n\t\t\tIf any others had evidence establishing his innocence, Trump would have urged their testimony. Instead, he denied access to both witnesses and documents, relying exclusively upon character assassination and witness intimidation.\n\t\t\tNone of those who did testify disagreed on the essential facts. Rather than offering any real defense, Congressional Republicans attacked patriotic public servants, including a military officer who literally bled in defense of our Nation, and Trump's own appointees, who simply told the horrible truth of what they observed. Meanwhile, Trump branded any fellow Republican who deviated from him as human scum.\n\t\t\tThree critical issues are at stake. First, can our democracy survive if Trump's expansive view of his power is upheld? He insists that he is constitutionally empowered to do whatever he wants, that while President he can neither be investigated nor prosecuted for any crime, and, further, that he can ignore any impeachment proceeding. These are the claims of a wannabe-tyrant.\n\t\t\tSuch a totally unrestrained President would change America forever. Our founders developed a system of checks and balances to protect us from an all-powerful executive. We elect a president, not a king. The standard that we set now applies to all future presidents.\n\t\t\tSecond, can the President use taxpayer money for personal gain? The White House memo indicates that, in response to the Ukrainian president's interest in acquiring additional U.S. weapons, Trump said: I would like you to do us a favor, though.\n\t\t\tHe wielded the full force of the presidency not to protect America, but solely to advance his reelection. Interfering with our national securitycompromising the integrity of our electionsfor personal gain represents an abuse of power and betrayal of his oath of office. \n\t\t\tThird, will we adopt a policy of open borders to permit foreigners to decide our elections? Foreign nations have their own agendas, especially adversaries like China and Russia. American citizens should be the only ones deciding our future.\n\t\t\tIf foreign interference is promoted in elections, we will never again have a truly free election. And without free elections, we are no longer free.\n\t\t\tThe late Texas Rep. Barbara Jordan, explaining her Nixon impeachment vote, said: My faith in the Constitution is whole, it is complete, it is total. I am not going to sit here and be an idle spectator to the diminution, the subversion, the destruction of the Constitution.\n\t\t\tNeither can we sit idly by.\n\t\t\tWhether we agree or disagree about this, just know that my decision is based upon the solemn responsibility to safeguard our national security and our constitutional system of government.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://doggett.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/statement-trump-drug-importation-plan-narrow-tweaks-won-t-make-dent", "Statement on Trump Drug Importation Plan: Narrow Tweaks Wont Make a Dent", "2019-12-18", "2019", "2019-12", "Democrat", "House", "TX", "Lloyd Doggett", "D000399", "doggett.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "***Press Release*** \n\t\t\t\tFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE\n\t\t\t\tDecember 18, 2019\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tContact: Kate Stotesbery\n\t\t\t\t202-225-4865\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n Statement on Trump Drug Importation Plan: Narrow Tweaks Won't Make a Dent \nWashington, D.C.  Today, U.S. Representative Lloyd Doggett (D-TX), Chair of the House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee, released the following statement about President Trump's importation plan:\nThree years late, with drug prices continuing to soar, Trump finally takes narrow action. Whether this will actually result in lower prices next year for any American is far from certain. While I have long supported the safe importation of prescription drugs, to effectively restrain monopoly prices much more must be done. As 50 Congressmembers have long ago requested, Trump has had the authority since day one to issue an executive order to lower the prices of the drugs for which taxpayers financed development. Trump should also follow the advice of candidate Trump and support Medicare negotiation legislation. There is no miracle drug to cure price gouging, but tweaks at the edges will barely make a dent.\n\n###\nFollow Congressman Doggett\nFacebook:https://www.Facebook.com/RepLloydDoggett | Twitter: @RepLloydDoggett| Instagram: @RepLloydDoggett", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://doggett.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/while-we-impeach-republican-appellate-judges-impede", "While We Impeach, Republican Appellate Judges Impede", "2019-12-18", "2019", "2019-12", "Democrat", "House", "TX", "Lloyd Doggett", "D000399", "doggett.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "***Press Release*** \n\t\t\t\tFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE\n\t\t\t\tDecember 18, 2019\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tContact: Kate Stotesbery\n\t\t\t\t202-225-4865\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n While We Impeach, Republican Appellate Judges Impede \nWashington, D.C.  Today, U.S. Representative Lloyd Doggett (D-TX), Chair of the House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee, released the following statement regarding the Fifth Circuit Court's decision in Texas v. United States:\nHardly coincidental that, as the Nation's attention is focused on the impeachment of Donald Trump, Republican appellate appointees impede access to health care for millions of Americans. The court is returning some issues for further consideration by a trial court that has already made obvious its hostility to the Affordable Care Act. It is just a matter of time before that Fort Worth trial court will again invalidate the entire Act, including its protections for patients with pre-existing conditions.\nTrump and his Republican enablers continue their assault on the patients who depend on the ACA. Colluding with indicted Texas Republican Attorney General Paxton, Trump turned to the courts to continue his sabotage after failing legislatively. Hopefully, there will be no ultimate Supreme Court ruling on this vital case until we have a new, humane president in 2021. Health care is on the ballot in November. We must prevail and make health care the first priority of a new Congress.\n\n###\nFollow Congressman Doggett\nFacebook:https://www.Facebook.com/RepLloydDoggett | Twitter: @RepLloydDoggett| Instagram: @RepLloydDoggett", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"], ["https://doggett.house.gov/media/press-releases/statement-trump-drug-importation-plan-narrow-tweaks-wont-make-dent", "Statement on Trump Drug Importation Plan: Narrow Tweaks Won\u2019t Make a Dent", "2019-12-18", "2019", "2019-12", "Democrat", "House", "TX", "Lloyd Doggett", "D000399", "doggett.house.gov", "doggett", "https://doggett.house.gov/media/press-releases", "scraper", "Washington, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Representative Lloyd Doggett (D-TX), Chair of the House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee, released the following statement about President Trump's importation plan:\n\n\"Three years late, with drug prices continuing to soar, Trump finally takes narrow action. Whether this will actually result in lower prices next year for any American is far from certain. While I have long supported the safe importation of prescription drugs, to effectively restrain monopoly prices much more must be done. As 50 Congressmembers have long ago requested, Trump has had the authority since day one to issue an executive order to lower the prices of the drugs for which taxpayers financed development. Trump should also follow the advice of candidate Trump and support Medicare negotiation legislation. There is no miracle drug to cure price gouging, but tweaks at the edges will barely make a dent.\"\n\nFollow Congressman Doggett", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:45:33Z"], ["https://doggett.house.gov/media/press-releases/while-we-impeach-republican-appellate-judges-impede", "While We Impeach, Republican Appellate Judges Impede", "2019-12-18", "2019", "2019-12", "Democrat", "House", "TX", "Lloyd Doggett", "D000399", "doggett.house.gov", "doggett", "https://doggett.house.gov/media/press-releases", "scraper", "Washington, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Representative Lloyd Doggett (D-TX), Chair of the House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee, released the following statement regarding the Fifth Circuit Court's decision in Texas v. United States:\n\n\"Hardly coincidental that, as the Nation's attention is focused on the impeachment of Donald Trump, Republican appellate appointees impede access to health care for millions of Americans. The court is returning some issues for further consideration by a trial court that has already made obvious its hostility to the Affordable Care Act. It is just a matter of time before that Fort Worth trial court will again invalidate the entire Act, including its protections for patients with pre-existing conditions.\n\nTrump and his Republican enablers continue their assault on the patients who depend on the ACA. Colluding with indicted Texas Republican Attorney General Paxton, Trump turned to the courts to continue his sabotage after failing legislatively. Hopefully, there will be no ultimate Supreme Court ruling on this vital case until we have a new, humane president in 2021. Health care is on the ballot in November. We must prevail and make health care the first priority of a new Congress.\"\n\nFollow Congressman Doggett", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-06-27T23:45:33Z"], ["https://escobar.house.gov/media/press-releases/congresswoman-veronica-escobar-statement-vote-impeach-president-trump", "Congresswoman Veronica Escobar Statement on Vote to Impeach President Trump", "2019-12-18", "2019", "2019-12", "Democrat", "House", "TX", "Veronica Escobar", "E000299", "escobar.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "(Washington, D.C.)  Congresswoman Veronica Escobar (TX-16), member of the House Judiciary Committee, issued the following statement on her vote for H.Res. 755, Impeaching Donald John Trump, President of the United States, for high crimes and misdemeanors:\nIn moments of great tragedy, we've been able to count on Americans to come together to exhibit strength and unity, showing that we are one people, one country. Not Republicans, not Democrats, but Americans.\nToday, our country faces another tragedy and moment of truth. President Trump has abused his public office for personal political gain and invited foreign governments to interfere in our elections, putting the integrity of our democracy at risk, leaving the House of Representatives no choice but to act to protect our great nation.\nI do not take my oath of office lightly. That is why, with El Pasoans and our fragile democracy in my heart and mind, I stood with my fellow patriots to uphold my oath and defend the Constitution.\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "truncated": false, "filtered_table_rows_count": 3800, "expanded_columns": [], "expandable_columns": [], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "units": {}, "query": {"sql": "select url, title, date, year, month, party, chamber, state, member_name, bioguide_id, domain, scraper, source, date_source, text, has_text, collected_at, updated_at from releases where \"chamber\" = :p0 and \"state\" = :p1 and \"year\" = :p2 order by date desc limit 101", "params": {"p0": "House", "p1": "TX", "p2": "2019"}}, "facet_results": {"party": {"name": "party", "type": "column", "hideable": false, "toggle_url": "/press/releases.json?chamber=House&state=TX&year=2019", "results": [{"value": "Republican", "label": "Republican", "count": 2350, "toggle_url": "http://dpwillis-congress-press-search.hf.space/press/releases.json?chamber=House&state=TX&year=2019&party=Republican", "selected": false}, {"value": "Democrat", "label": "Democrat", "count": 1450, "toggle_url": "http://dpwillis-congress-press-search.hf.space/press/releases.json?chamber=House&state=TX&year=2019&party=Democrat", "selected": false}], "truncated": false}, "chamber": {"name": "chamber", "type": "column", "hideable": false, "toggle_url": "/press/releases.json?chamber=House&state=TX&year=2019", "results": [{"value": "House", "label": "House", "count": 3800, "toggle_url": "http://dpwillis-congress-press-search.hf.space/press/releases.json?state=TX&year=2019", "selected": true}], "truncated": false}, "state": {"name": "state", "type": "column", "hideable": false, "toggle_url": "/press/releases.json?chamber=House&state=TX&year=2019", "results": [{"value": "TX", "label": "TX", "count": 3800, "toggle_url": "http://dpwillis-congress-press-search.hf.space/press/releases.json?chamber=House&year=2019", "selected": true}], "truncated": false}, "year": {"name": "year", "type": "column", "hideable": false, "toggle_url": "/press/releases.json?chamber=House&state=TX&year=2019", "results": [{"value": "2019", "label": "2019", "count": 3800, "toggle_url": "http://dpwillis-congress-press-search.hf.space/press/releases.json?chamber=House&state=TX", "selected": true}], "truncated": false}}, "suggested_facets": [], "next": "2019-12-18,https~3A~2F~2Fescobar~2Ehouse~2Egov~2Fmedia~2Fpress-releases~2Fcongresswoman-veronica-escobar-statement-vote-impeach-president-trump", "next_url": "http://dpwillis-congress-press-search.hf.space/press/releases.json?chamber=House&state=TX&year=2019&_next=2019-12-18%2Chttps~3A~2F~2Fescobar~2Ehouse~2Egov~2Fmedia~2Fpress-releases~2Fcongresswoman-veronica-escobar-statement-vote-impeach-president-trump&_sort_desc=date", "private": false, "allow_execute_sql": true, "query_ms": 1190.2771000750363, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}